10 Wrestling Matches That Were Controversially CANCELLED

7. Shawn Michaels Vs Dean Douglas (WWE In Your House 4)

Roman Reigns Goldberg
WWE

A lighting bolt in the ring but a lightning rod for just about everything else, 1995 Shawn Michaels was as much a maverick as he was a miserable presence to be around, per just about every account of the time.

To this day there's disagreement around the specific severity of the beating he took when a Syracuse bar scuffle between wrestlers and patrons/marines got out of hand, but it was enough to rule 'HBK' out of a planned Intercontinental Championship defence against Dean Douglas at In Your House 4.

If only that were the end of the story.

Douglas' on-camera involvement (and what came next) added to the conspiratorial nature of the suspicions. Michaels had previous (and future) with not losing titles, and Douglas was a known political enemy of The Kliq. The very same Kliq that featured Razor Ramon, the man that immediately dethroned 'The Dean' reducing the length of his reign to a matter of minutes.

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