There are two chapters of Shawn Michaels' wrestling career. There was the party animal that ran roughshod over everybody in his path from the late 1980s through 1998 when a back injury forced him to retire and then there was the guy that came back to the WWE ring in 2002 as a completely different man. Michaels has been the most open wrestler ever in terms of talking about how religion changed his life. He told a story about how in 2001 he was sitting at home with his young son and even though he was married with a beautiful boy, he wasn't happy. Drugs had taken over his life. His wife suggested that he start going to church, attending Bible study and going on a new path, which he did because he had hit rock bottom. The fact that he wrestled for years after his 2002 is a miracle because he underwent a serious back surgery in 1999 that was believed to the end of his career in his mid-30s. There's really no great way of explaining it, but Michaels seems to think it was some message from God telling him When WWE brought back Degeneration X in 2006, Michaels wasn't out there doing raunchy stuff like he was in 1997-98. Instead, he would hold a microphone out so the fans could say "suck it" instead of him. They made it more of a comedy babyface thing instead of something that was in your face. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EMwkNes2EM He wasn't shy about mentioning his faith on WWE TV either. During his ring entrance, he would go down on his knees and look up above as if he was praying to the Gods while thanking them for allowing him to do what he did for a living. They even made him team with God at one point, which was pretty ridiculous. Michaels wrote a new book that discusses his wrestling career, his faith and his family. He wants people to know his story and what worked for him in terms of getting him on the right track again. Is Michaels the best in-ring performer in WWE history? He might be. He's also the wrestler that is most known as a born again Christian and found a better way of living.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
