25 Most OUT OF POCKET WWE Attitude Era Moments

2. Shawn Michaels Vs. Michael Cole II: What The World Has Come To!

Shawn Michaels Plaits
WWE

Shawn Michaels, in late 1997 and early 1998, was a complete asshole. This is a compliment. He was awful to everybody around him, treating the sanctity of a pro wrestling broadcast like it was a particularly boring lesson at school. 

Fans of a certain age will remember an absolutely tremendous bit back in the early days of D-Generation X. DX drew the ire of one of the teachers, Sgt. Slaughter, for their debauched antics. DX would wipe the spit from their eyes as Slaughter spoke in a running gag that evolved into Triple H and Shawn Michaels wearing riot gear. DX treated Slaughter’s sialoquent nature as nothing short of a reverse bukkake situation. Shawn held Michael Cole in equal contempt. Michael Cole was a boring wimp geek who asked DX pointless questions when they would never answer anything of substance to begin with. The only problem with the runner is that the fans shared DX’s opinion that Cole was a pipsqueak dork. Still, it was funny. 

In one particularly cruel moment, Shawn, who had styled his hair into plaits, was interviewed by Cole. For 15 non-stop seconds, Shawn moved his head from side to side so that he could lightly slap Cole in the face with his fancy new ‘do. It’s like he was in a trance, so focused on the idea of being a brat that he disassociated and forgot that he was on national television. 

It’s even funnier if you think that Shawn plaited his hair and had the make-up department spend ages on it purely so that he could harass Cole.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!