5. Shawn Michaels
He is the headliner. The showstopper. The main event. HBK. Perhaps the greatest WWE superstar of all time was, between 1997-98, the man that everybody loved to hate. I could go on for a hours about all Shawn Michaels achievements, so I will instead concentrate solely on this time in his long and storied career. Michaels became the head of the notorious stable Degeneration X, alongside Triple H and Chyna. Now this is not the watered down version of 2006 and beyond, but a group that got in everybodys face and pushed the boundaries to an extent never before seen in the history of the company. They were vile, immature and won by any means, and the crowd lapped it all up. Despite the fact that they were bad guys, the crowd often cheered their actions and led to the development of the cool heel. You disliked Michaels actions and words, until he made you laugh or he got into the ring and showed why he was the greatest there has ever been. Unfortunately, a near career-ending back injury cost Michaels four years of his career and ended the great potential that DX could have produced. Nevertheless, that may have proved to be a blessing in disguise, as the heel Michaels was the perfect opponent to launch the biggest fan favourite in WWE history, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and form the origins of the Attitude Era, the most controversial and successful period in professional wrestling history. Just another thing we have Shawn Michaels to thank for.