By his own admission, Shawn Michaels struggled with the pressure of being WWF Heavyweight Champion in 1996. Winning the belt at WrestleMania XII from Bret Hart, HBK claims he had trouble living up to his billing as 'The Show Stopper' every night. That's evidenced in his performances as champion. Examining Shawn's rivals up until October, he faced the likes of Diesel, The British Bulldog, Vader and Mankind. Matches against Bulldog were fine, but they fell short of the main event level set by the man's predecessors. It was clear that Michaels didn't really enjoy working with Vader, certainly not as much as he did against his pal, Diesel. Mankind was a different story. It's likely Vince McMahon was a little surprised when he witnessed first hand the WWF Title match at In Your House: Mind Games in September between both men. Finally, for perhaps the first time, Shawn Michaels looked like a winner as WWF Champ. Foley deserves a lot of praise for this, because he was the perfect foil for the hard-to-like titleholder.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
