10 Wrestlers Who Didn't Care About Kayfabe
7. Shawn Michaels
Triple H's D-Generation X cohort Shawn Michaels was also, as we say in this part of the world, a little bastard.
The walls came tumbling down when Brian Pillman used a meta narrative to drive his price up and bring an end to the reign of the '80s muscle men, but Shawn blurred the lines for the less noble pursuit of "being a total c*nt to Bret Hart". Michaels throughout 1997 was a prize prick, but he was bloody funny with it, showing open disdain for his peer and the principles he held so dearly. He was a little bastard in the ring, too, f*cking the European Title in an intentionally fake match with Triple H that acutely exposed the extent to which the pro wrestler cooperates with his dance partner, not combat opponent.
Everybody knew, this didn't kill the business or any boring old sh*te like that, but it was an insult to the colleagues who had to follow. 1997 WWF wasn't PWG. They had to feel like total a**holes, performing their craft after that, but Michaels wouldn't have. He was too damn incredible at it.
Echoes of this wildly exaggerated "This thing you like is fake, you dumb marks" genre were seen in his infamous SummerSlam 2005 performance, in which he gleefully exposed the warts of Hulk Hogan's Superman act by flailing about the place as if trying to convince a toddler they were stronger than daddy.