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.

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, Jamie Hayer, 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.