25 Great Wrestlers That EVERYBODY Turned Against

24. Shawn Michaels

WWE WWF Royal Rumble 1997 Shawn Michaels
WWE.com

It'd be inaccurate to say that Shawn Michaels didn't have a friend in the world at the height of his 1990s excess, but only because of the existence of Triple H.

Shawn Michaels was a self-confessed "angry young man" at the time, and regardless of why that might have been, he had absolutely no problem taking that anger out on just about everybody. As the top star and office favourite, he had more room than most to behave abhorrently, and anybody that spent time with him then has since spoken of a man unravelling (and an ego spiralling) uncontrollably.

In a few short years, Michaels indiscretions included but weren't limited to courting getting a kicking from the Disciples Of Apocalypse, ending up in a real life fight with Bret Hart after years of needle between the two, bullying Vader all the way out of a top spot, politicking a needless European Title win in England at the expense of Davey Boy Smith after the Bulldog had dedicated a win to his sister with cancer, and perhaps most apocryphally, threatening to not lose to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV under threat of - lol - getting a shoot beating from The Undertaker, sat ominously waiting at Gorilla for business to get done. 

When he departed after that show at just 32, potentially forever, plenty of his enemies felt as though karma was real and justice had been served. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett