10 Times WWE Failed At Forced Emotion

9. Shawn Michaels' Lost Smile

Triple H Crying
WWE

When Shawn Michaels conjured up a knee injury to absolve himself from returning the favour of putting over Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 in 1997, the WWF on Thursday RAW Thursday framed it as a solemn, career-defining moment.

Michaels threatened retirement - he would in reality return just a few months later - before infamously claiming to have lost his "smile". In his Wrestling Observer, Dave Meltzer doubted the severity of his injury. Michaels' return date and the evidenced ability to work through far worse all but confirmed that he was taking the p*ss out of Hart.

The intended effect of the angle was one of shock, and an outpouring of grief. One woman, a Heartbreak Kid cosplayer, looked devastated. Elsewhere, unmoved fans chanted for Sid.

What's more galling in retrospect is that Michaels - who had proven himself capable of engineering crocodile tears to diffuse several backstage altercations throughout the year - had evidently not lost his smirk. He did manage a solitary tear towards the end of his whinge, but the performance for the most part was halfhearted.

It was a seminal moment in the company's history, without which Steve Austin's heroic face turn would not have happened (in such iconic fashion, anyway) - but that was by pure accident rather than design.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!