10 Things You Didn't Know About Shawn Michaels

9. Sweet Chin Music Wasn’t Always His Finisher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z30ae4xqFVY

Older readers may well be aware of this fact, but to some younger fans they may only know Shawn Michaels finisher manoeuvre as being his patented Sweet Chin Music. That has certainly been the case for the majority of his singles career, but that wasn’t always the case.

When Michaels disbanded The Rockers by unceremoniously dumping Marty Jannetty through Brutus Beefcake’s Barbershop window, the infancy of his solo career saw him finishing off opponents with a modified high-angle side suplex of sorts, often dubbed the Teardrop Suplex.

During his Rockers days and the early days of the Heartbreak Kid persona, Michaels would usually hit several superkicks during a match as just a regular move – often referred to as reverse crescent kicks or standing side kicks by Gorilla Monsoon.

It would only be during late ’94/early ’95 that a superkick would become his finishing move, going on to be known as Sweet Chin Music and then later he’d also add the whole ‘stomp’ set-up to the move.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.