10 Things You Didn't Know About Shawn Michaels

7. Elvis Watched Him Marry A Nitro Girl

shawn michaels sunny
MRA Hunting

The Nitro Girls were essentially WCW’s version of cheerleaders, used to appeal to the hot-blooded males who tuned in to watch Ted Turner’s wrestling show. Occasionally the girls' appearances would fall over into angles and storylines, but they were generally just there to give men something to ogle.

One such Nitro Girl was Whisper, also known simply as Rebecca Curci. Depending on which stories you read, Rebecca was introduced to Shawn Michaels by either Kevin Nash or Scott Hall. The rest, as they say, is history.

The pair were married in 1999, with the ceremony taking place in a Las Vegas Wedding Chapel and witnessed only by an Elvis Pressley impersonator. Seriously.

To this day, the real-life Michael and Rebecca Hickenbottom are still happily married and have two children, Cameron and Cheyenne.

And yes, the wife who was punched in the face by Chris Jericho on Raw during the Jericho/Michaels feud of 2008 was indeed Shawn’s real wife, with Jericho accidentally landing a very real punch on the jaw of the real wife on HBK’s other half.

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, 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 the 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, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.