as would the leader of the Kliq, Shawn Michaels. If theres any man whos turned his backstage reputation around more than John Layfield, its the Heartbreak Kid. Michaels problems with drink and drugs prior to his first retirement in 1998 were and still are legendary. He claims to have huge portions of his personal and professional life prior to cleaning up that he simply cant recall. Whats clear from the stories that almost everyone tells about that time, is that HBK was the biggest horses ass the company had ever seen. He and the rest of his backstage crew, the Kliq Scott Razor Ramon Hall, Kevin Diesel Nash, Paul Hunter Hurst Helmsley Levesque and Sean X-Pac Waltman were the main event talent that ran WWF from underneath. Legend has it that even the fearsome Vince McMahon would bow to Shawns judgement, which was enough to bury newer wrestlers or people that the Kliq saw as rivals to their position in the company. Michaels himself disputes the level of influence that was attributed to him, but in the outcome of the infamous curtain call incident (where he, Hall, Nash and Levesque would break kayfabe and hug in the centre of the ring in front of a sold out crowd), only the junior member Levesque was punished. Nash and Hall were leaving, and Michaels was untouchable. By all and we mean all accounts, the Heartbreak Kid was arrogant, cowardly, unreliable, rude, backstabbing and, essentially, a complete a-hole until he found God in his retirement after a serious back injury, completely turned his life around and became the (by all and we mean all accounts) great guy that he is today. Some say its a miracle.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
