10 WWE Careers That Were Transformed In One Year

8. Shawn Michaels - 1992

Cm Punk 2010 11
WWE

When 'The Heartbreak Kid' smashed Marty Jannetty through the Barber Shop window, it kicked off one of several hugely transcendent years in his remarkable career.

Kicking off 1992 by kicking The Rockers into touch, Michaels worked every major pay-per-view that year, culminating in a Champion Vs Champion clash with Bret Hart at that year's Survivor Series. The pair were standouts in a time of walkouts as the shape and scale of the company began to change, but their attempts to move the workrate scale as Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champions respectively were noble, if low-drawing.

Going by 'The Wrestler Of The 1990s' right on the cusp of that phrasing feeling a little dated, the 'Boy Toy' went about proving it with matches of such a standard that it was impossible not to reward him with the legendary worker's belt by year's end. In 12 months, he'd gone from being a wrestler desperate to shake the shackles of being in a tag team to one that looked as if he'd been doing this exact bit all his working life.

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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