10 Shortest Retirements In WWE History

Retired from February 14, 1997 to May 26, 1997

The night that Shawn Michaels "lost his smile". Yeah, sure.

After winning the WWF Championship from Sycho Sid at the Royal Rumble, the plan was to have Shawn do the honours for Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13, as Bret did for him the year prior.

Then disaster struck as 'The Heartbreak Kid' suffered an allegedly catastrophic knee injury. He vacated the WWF Title and left the biggest show of the year in limbo. This injury however was miraculously fixed by May. Michaels returned to win doubles gold with Steve Austin.

Many people have called the injury bogus, with mostly all saying Michaels 'retired' to avoid jobbing to Hart. Only Michaels defended the legitimacy. By 1997 the relationship between the two men hit crisis levels anyway. It was likely for the best that the two men didn't fight at WrestleMania - it looked as though they might have tried to hurt each other had they even touched. Nevertheless, Shawn wasn't feeling it and retired for the duration of WrestleMania 13, mocking Hart at every opportunity during that time until his return.

Ironically, following years of substance abuse and a genuinely catastrophic back injury, Michaels was indeed forced into retirement and had no choice but to job for the rising Stone Cold Steve Austin at the following year's WrestleMania XIV.