10 Things You Didn't Know About Shawn Michaels
3. Was Ribbed For Playgirl’s Largely Gay Readership
Shawn Michaels famously stripped down for Playgirl Magazine; a fact that was even referenced and mocked on WWF television by Bret Hart. What Shawn didn’t realise is that the magazine was actually largely read by gay men at that point in time.
Living up to his Sexy Boy shtick, Shawn was under the impression that a spread in Playgirl would further cement him as a pin-up for all of his female fans. In reality, the majority of people reading that particular publication at that point were homosexual males.
Now obviously Michaels was in the prime of his career and was a good-looking, athletic guy, so would appeal to anybody who had an interest in pretty boy athletic sorts, but his misunderstanding on just who would be reading Playgirl was supposedly something that he was constantly teased about backstage by his fellow wrestlers.
At the end of the day, Shawn was paid handsomely for the Playgirl gig, it was further exposure for him and the WWF, and whoever liked the look of Shawn Michaels certainly got to see what they wanted to see.