18 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Shawn Michaels
Before he found God and then later when he teamed with him...
Shawn Michaels is undoubtedly one of the greatest superstars in WWE history. In his initial in-ring tenure with the company, Michaels evolved from an undersized (but overly-talented) tag team player to a star on the rise to, eventually, the centerpiece of the entire promotion.
His career looked to be over at age 33 following a serious back injury, but after four years on the shelf, HBK returned better than ever for another decade of excellence.
Today, Michaels is a born-again Christian and family man enjoying his retirement and spending time with his family. In fact, during his second run with the company (from 2002 to 2010), he was pretty much a model employee and locker room leader. He worked with a new generation of talent, making them (and WWE as a whole) stronger for it.
Prior to his conversion, though, HBK was infamously difficult to deal with. Drugs, ego, and an overall bad attitude made him a nightmare for management and other wrestlers in the 1990s, and had he not been such an incredibly talented and charismatic performer, he probably would have found himself punished - or even blackballed.
Michaels's redemption is one of wrestling's great stories, but there's still a lot of dicey stuff in his past...
18. WWE Didn't Create The Rockers
WWE loves to take credit for Shawn Michaels's career, and to be fair, he is one of the few superstars from the company's golden age not to have worked for WCW. That doesn't mean WWE built him from scratch, though, despite what they'd have you believe.
Michaels and Marty Jannetty first teamed in 1985 in Kansas City's Central States Wrestling, where they eventually captured the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship. After they lost the titles, Michaels left for Texas and began competing in Texas All-Star Wrestling, but the pair were reunited the following year in the American Wrestling Association.
Once there, the partnership between the two become more official. Inspired by the Judas Priest song "Living After Midnight," the pair adopted a rock and roll persona and called themselves The Midnight Rockers. Reportedly, AWA owner Verne Gagne had concerns that the name might be mistaken for a reference to rocking chairs, but he gave them the okay. The team soon found success and popularity, picking up a pair of AWA World Tag Team Title reigns before heading to WWE.