10 Times Wrestlers Cried And Made Everybody Feel Really Awkward
7. Shawn Michaels (Thursday Raw Thursday, February 13th 1997)
Bret Hart certainly wasn't buying what Shawn Michaels was selling during his abdication of the WWE Title in February 1997.
"You phoney little faker, why don't you take your pussyfoot injury and go back and find your smile" he spat, laying into Michaels as he sat ringside on commentary for the main event of WrestleMania just over a month removed from revealing his potentially career-threatening knee injury.
In truth, Michaels' emotional fragility at the time probably brought to the front very real feelings of grief and turmoil as he handed over the title and position he'd worked (and politicked) so heavily for, even though his true motivations have been endlessly questioned since the controversial speech.
Ever the marketeer, Shawn timed his tears at the evocative monologue's disparate climax. "Here's your belt" he mumbled, handing the strap back to Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon with a tremble in his voice.
Though loud 'Sid' chants soon reverberated around the building in derisory disdain for Michaels' decision, the emotion at least resonated with many of the female fans in the audience. Kevin Dunn made sure to let the television audience know, with countless cuts to disconsolate girls wishing his pain away. Over 20 years later, the saccharine presentation still jars.