10 Times WWE Worked Their Audience Into A Shoot
5. Shawn Michaels' Unscripted Rampage (1997)
Few wrestlers attracted more controversy than Shawn Michaels in the 1990s, and 'HBK' was at his worst in '97. From "losing his smile" in February to the Montreal Screwjob eight months later, his year was full of contentious moments, both on-air and off.
With his divisiveness at an all-time high, Michaels started engaging in a long series of seemingly unscripted events on live television, including a lengthy tirade against The Undertaker that later had to be edited out of Raw. Speculation was that he was deliberately violating the company's instructions and going off-script in order to get himself fired. Why? So he could sign with WCW and reunite with fellow Kliq members Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who had both jumped ship in 1996.
It was extremely convincing, and without social media to shatter the illusion, many bought what he was selling. In reality, these stunts were written to facilitate the birth of D-Generation X, which only escalated Shawn's lewd, crude antics. The whole thing was a work, aside from the Undertaker promo, which was the product of a bet between Shawn and a nameless member of the roster.