10 Wrestling Gimmicks Based On LIES!

7. Shawn Michaels

Sgt Slaughter
WWE.com

1996 was a make-or-break year for Shawn Michaels. In irrepressibly similar fashion to his in-ring excellence, he managed to master the art of both.

For much of the year, he was a WWE Champion living out his "boyhood dream", but even he couldn't have foreseen the competition he'd have to face atop an organisation that was losing a war. WCW's New World Order had set the company on fire, transforming the industry from a one-note joke to a two-horse race that Vince McMahon's promotion was losing.

Later admitting in his autobiography that he mentally unravelled at the time, Michaels was cast as "The Leader Of The New Generation" despite having precisely one friend on the roster to prop him up. Even as he was subject to punishment booking on the show, Triple H remained loyal to 'HBK' as the sole remaining Clique member following the departures of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Beyond that, Michaels was loathed for his personality but begrudgingly tolerated for his peerless professional wrestling.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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