There's not a wrestling fan alive who believed that Shawn Michaels' wrestling return in 2002 was ever going to occur. At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels hit his lower back on a casket during a casket match versus The Undertaker. The bump caused him to herniate two discs and crush another one completely. After losing the WWF Championship to Steve Austin at Wrestlemania, Michaels was believed to be "retired." The Heartbreak Kid made occasional in-ring (non-wrestling) appearances for WWE between 1999-2002. He was a commentator, commissioner, referee and special guest, but it wasn't until the ill-fated attempted reformation of DeGeneration X by Triple H in 2002 that Michaels was called back to actually wrestling. In response to the DX reformation being a ruse for Triple H to attack Michaels, HBK challenged Triple H to "a fight" at SummerSlam 2002, which Michaels won. By that November's Survivor Series, Michaels won the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in WWE's first-ever Elimination Chamber match.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
