The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels was the WWF Champion in early 1997 and the company had him all geared up for a huge WrestleMania rematch with Bret Hart. A year earlier the first Mania bout had been won by Michaels, who went on to hold the belt for the rest of 1996. The booking for 1997's Mania now called upon HBK to return the favour, he was set to drop the belt back to Hart, amid reports of the company being disappointed in Michaels's box office performance as Champion. However, Hart vs Michaels 2 at WrestleMania 13 never happened. HBK unfortunately went out of action due to a devastating knee injury. That's the official story anyway... the injury has been disputed time and time again by people who felt Michaels simply didn't want to do the job. Was the injury faked? No, I don't think so. Was it exaggerated? Yes, perhaps it was, maybe he could have worked the Mania bout. Nevertheless, Michaels still maintains the 1997 knee condition could have been career ending. He resigned the championship and ruined WrestleMania 13 in the process, departing the WWF in a famous Raw speech where he claimed "I've lost my smile." The rest is history - Mania 13 became the worst performing WrestleMania of all time, Michaels was back a few months later, and then a year on he suffered a legitimate back injury which nearly ruined the WrestleMania 14 main event. Luckily that time he worked through the pain, elevating Steve Austin to the WWF title in the process.
