10 World Champions Who Bombed TWICE

5. Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels
WWE

Shawn Michaels found himself in the rather unfortunate spot of having to lead WWE during their opposition's most profitable period, and it's to the chagrin of many - your writer included - that his prime years on top played to the sort of figures that could hypothetically make one lose one's smile.

"The Boyhood Dream" was the subtitle for Michaels' first title win, and regaining it in San Antonio made for a similar fairytale the following spring, but neither victory could push back the growing momentum of an nWo-led WCW.

The New World Order's July 1996 takeover of World Championship Wrestling transformed the industry and reduced the former "Worldwide Leader" into second spot for just about the entire duration of all three of Michaels' original tenures on top. Michaels was ten times the wrestler just about anybody on Nitro was, but not enough people were catching Raw to find out.

And, alas, it wasn't just the 'Heartbreak Kid' that couldn't reverse a trend...

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.