10 Times Promoters Sided With A Wrestler The Locker Room Hated

1. Shawn Michaels

CM Punk Tony Khan
WWE

Nobody in the history of the wrestling business ever irked their colleagues on a continuous basis as much as Shawn Michaels in the years prior to his enforced retirement in 1998. Hell, Michaels even remained a problematic presence in the first few years after that retirement.

The Heartbreak Kid acting like an utter d**khead was so commonplace back then, it was merely labelled as "Shawn being Shawn". Turn up to an event completely off your face? Shawn being Shawn. Decide a certain finish doesn't work for you? Shawn being Shawn. Storm out of an arena when you don't get your way? Shawn being Shawn. Poke fun at your co-worker while you're shagging his girlfriend? Shawn being Shawn. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Michaels was detested by his peers for a) his behaviour, and b) for how he was able to get away with said behaviour due to Vince McMahon's relationship with the Showstopper.

Even Shawn's few friends of that time have talked about how much of an insufferable, unprofessional prick he was. Still, McMahon forever remained loyal to a fault to Michaels, regardless of how much HBK was having a negative impact on locker room morale - to the point that many were delighted to see Bret Hart famously get the better of Michaels when the two inevitably came to real-life blows in '97.

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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 dayjob, 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.