10 Wrestlers Who Came Crawling Back To WWE

5. Shawn Michaels

Stardust Spider
WWE Network

Shawn Michaels did not give a f*ck in 1997.

It was the amount of not giving a f*ck where you've got to pronounce f*ck with about seventeen Us, or do away with the f*cks altogether because he didn't have any left to give at all.

'The Heartbreak Kid' was losing a battle with his personal demons and his professional life had never been more fraught as a result. Trapped in a philosophical war with Bret Hart that sprawled between their on and off screen lives, Michaels' other Kliq pals beyond Triple H were making fortunes in WCW while he bounced in and out of speculative retirement, a search for a smile and a changing television product he was trying to figure himself back into.

All of this converged to chaos about once a week, but never more so than when he scrapped with 'The Hitman' for real over the "Sunny Days" comment he peppered a promo with the week prior. Storming out of the building on that wild July, he swore allegiance to his mates and WCW. After all the requisite toing and froing, he was back by August.

In this post: 
Cody Rhodes
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 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 62,000,000 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 covered milestone events in New York, 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. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett