10 Times WWE Stupidly Tried To Plug Gaps
7. Shawn Michaels
...and only at his latest rock bottom, did Vince McMahon accept he might need something entirely different to take his business back to the top.
"Shawn Michaels: WWE Champion", was finally a brave step forward from the Hulk Hogan template, or at least one Vince McMahon was actually prepared to get behind. Bret Hart was loved - deeply loved - by the tiny and loyal audience that remained attached to McMahon's product post-Hogan, but he wasn't a domestic draw despite every debatable set of figures his fans fought over. Subsequently, he wasn't Vince's guy.
But he had eyes for The 'Heartbreak Kid'.
As good as (and eventually, better than) Bret Hart as the 1990s progressed, Michaels appeared as dynamic at the box office as he was between the ropes. Gradual gains in early-1996 on pay-per-view and at house shows implied that the planned WrestleMania XII anointment was exactly what the audience were ready for. It transpired that the man they really wanted had already wrestled by the time Hart and 'HBK' made it to the ring.
Shawn's matches that year were sensational, but WWE's numbers dipped again as a heel Hulk Hogan-led WCW ran rampant. Stone Cold Steve Austin's stuttering rise was the answer hiding in plain sight, whilst an unravelling Michaels buckled under the pressure of the spot.