3 Ups & 3 Downs From The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels (Review)

US streaming service Peacock just released a 96-minute long documentary for WWE, entitled 'The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels'. Detailing the life of one of WWE's most beloved superstars, this exploration of Shawn's journey has enough original footage and new interviews for all fans to give it an evening of their time.

It's far from perfect, as we are about to discuss, but there is a treasure chest of great insight into HBK's role as the head honcho of NXT and any documentary that has Bret Hart shooting from the hip is worth watching. Whether it's reminiscing on HBK's best moments, or taking a look at how his life looks in recent years, 'The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels' has enough highs and lows to make it good value for seasoned fans and newcomers alike. Here's the best and worst of it.

The NXT Footage Is Superb

Something that must always be kept in mind with WWE’s own brand of “home team media” is that, much like WWE Unreal, these documentaries are essentially PR pieces for their subject matter. That being said, it doesn’t take much to sell Shawn Michaels to anyone with the slightest interest in pro wrestling. Where this documentary really shines is showing The Heartbreak Kid in his current position as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative while running NXT.

Shawn's sincerity when it comes to caring about performers as varied as Je'Von Evans and Ethan Page feels like the real antithesis to the Michaels of the mid-90s, and watching the likes of Johnny Gargano and Drew McIntyre look at him like the heart eyes emoji really pierces through the screen. His interactions with Ilja Dragunov about his year-long layoff with injury, relating to him through his own well-known back problems, is a great snapshot of where he is at this point in his life and his value in all aspects of the business.

Perhaps best of all is watching him put his own head in a chair to practice a dangerous spot with Ethan Page and Je'Von Evans. During the December 17th, 2024 NXT episode, where Page mimics Michaels’ famous speech about losing his smile, the dastardly heel turns the segment on its head by attempting to break WWE’s bounciest superstar’s jaw with a steel chair. In rehearsal footage, Michaels insists on using himself as a crash test dummy for the spot to ease their minds about the dangerousness of the scene, despite being almost 60 at the time of recording.

Ethan Page, in particular, seems to share a real bond with Michaels. A super talented and charismatic performer, his immense redemption under Michaels after being criminally underused in AEW is public knowledge, but to see the evidence of why that bond exists (complete with Shawn confessing to Matt Bond that “he’s a lot like I used to be” while Page is out of earshot) is heartwarming stuff.

There Is A Lot Missing

In a quest to make everything as cuddly as possible, there are a lot of Shawn Michaels’ misdemeanors left out entirely, and the things that are covered are given industrial-strength sugarcoating.

For all the great AWA footage of The Rockers and how timeless the footage of their violent split in the Barbershop remains, it’s very telling that Marty Jannetty isn’t interviewed for this documentary. For someone who played a significant part in Shawn getting noticed in the first place, there is little reverence for his partner and this pivotal part of his career. It’s instead treated as something that was only ever going to be a stepping stone in his career.

The framing of Bret Hart’s part in The Montreal Screwjob is also borderline criminal. They entirely leave out that Vince McMahon went back on his contract with Bret, renegotiating the terms of his record WWE deal and betraying his financial commitment to The Hitman. Framing the incident as a betrayal from Bret that left all those who screwed Bret as "having no choice but to stop Hart from leaving with the WWE title" is a scandalous retelling of the truth.

It’s also curious that they leave out the Madison Square Garden Curtain Call entirely. It may not have played a big part in Michaels’ story, but when they spend as much time as they do on Hall and Nash’s departure, it feels like a misfire to leave out any mention of their famous shattering of kayfabe at The World’s Most Famous Arena.

His Bond With Paul Levesque Is Captured Excellently

It’s easy to be cynical about any friendship in the cut-throat, “every man for himself” business of professional wrestling, but the bond between Paul Levesque and Shawn Michaels is perhaps the best element of this whole documentary.

Over 30 years on, Levesque is still in awe of his friend. Whether it’s recounting his miraculous comeback and their all-time classic war at SummerSlam 2002, or giving him his props for preparing the next generation of WWE Main Eventers in NXT, his praise for Michael’s is endearing. Levesque is great and believable when telling the stories of how he slowly coaxed Michaels into sharing his gift with today’s roster and made him an integral part of today’s WWE creative machine.

While a lot of The Kliq coverage here is selectively documented to say the least, Levesque being happy that Shawn is still alive is one of the few moments that documents how off the rails Shawn was in the past. Michaels finding religion famously helped him rid himself of his demons when it came to substance abuse. It’s easy for people to sneer at that, and that’s something that Levesque is savvy enough to address. As the sober man of The Kliq, and having to say goodbye to the legendary Scott Hall far too early, Levesque’s one-line takedown of any critics of Shawn’s life choices is one of the documentary’s best moments. Avoiding being preachy or defensive, the WWE CEO correctly points out he “doesn’t know anybody who ever OD’d on religion. If that’s what works for him, I’m glad for him”.

All that and footage of HBK crashing an autograph signing at WrestleMania Axxess, having the excellent payoff of Levesque signing a pic to him with “To Shawn, Suck It!”, is wonderful stuff.

The Kliq Presentation Is Disingenuous

This documentary paints a very cuddly version of The Kliq. It’s all too eager to point out the greatness in the ring of Michaels, Hall, Nash, Waltman, and Levesque and their passion to show their talent, but entirely reticent to admit how much backstage politicking afforded them the opportunities to do so.

Not mentioning how unpopular the group were with their fellow professionals throughout this period doesn’t remotely tell the full story of the group’s megalomaniacal attitude and underhanded tactics during their WWE years. You have to read between the lines of Bret Hart’s appraisal that Shawn was only willing to do business with his friends during his first run with the WWE Championship to get a taste of the reality of the situation. For example, Shawn refused to do business with a legendary big man like Vader

Even within The Kliq, there was real-life betrayal that is completely ignored here. This documentary says that Shawn became likable during his WrestleMania 11 match with Diesel, forcing WWE creative to turn him babyface. What it doesn’t point out is how Michaels went into business for himself that night at the expense of his friend, Kevin Nash. He ran rings around his less athletic opponent and sold his Jackknife Powerbomb worse than anybody in Nash’s entire career. In doing so, it buried Kevin’s reputation as a top guy in Vince McMahon’s eyes forever. If The Kliq is a band of brothers, it certainly didn’t seem like it on that night.

This is all useful information when considering why Nash and Hall left for WCW. It’s hard to navigate any conversation around Vince McMahon, but Shawn was the WWE owner’s golden boy in the mid-90s. He only had eyes for the problematic Heartbreak Kid. Telling a more accurate story of how Vince and Shawn conspired to get rid of Bret Hart would add context as to why Michaels had such underwhelming runs with the WWE Championship and why Nash and Hall’s defection to WCW has such a landscape-altering effect.

The Candid Footage Works Best

Seeing how much affection and reverence his co-workers, peers, and the future superstars of the business have for him really drives home that, in a business rammed full of exceptional individuals, he remains one of a kind. His achievements command the respect of anyone associated with wrestling, and he comes across as a charming, funny, and likable guy in the candid, fly-on-the-wall footage here. Capturing “real” moments make him look far better than the schmaltzy talking head interviews of the likes of Bruce Pritchard and the meritless Pete Rosenberg.

Watching Jevon Evans make his main roster debut at Saturday Night’s Main Event, the cameras capture Michaels telling the future superstar “you have my number, call at any time for anything you need” like a proud parent watching their son graduate is magic.

Mid 90s Shawn Isn’t Really Investigated

One of the storytelling elements that makes Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance documentary so phenomenal is its willingness to explore the negative parts of MJ’s story. It’s a real shame that the filmmakers don’t employ that same ethos in this documentary.

Some moments break this cycle. Bret Hart’s blunt honesty is a gift to every documentary he’s used in, and his summary that Shawn was “a first-rate asshole” is comedy gold. The Undertaker admits that he “wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire” during Shawn's worst years, but it’s never really explored as to why he was such hard work.

This isn’t to say that it needed to be a takedown of Shawn’s most difficult years. Footage from 1996 shows HBK visiting a children’s ward. Speaking to kids with extreme health problems, the footage of him awkwardly letting them hold his title belt as he confesses that he “doesn’t know if he’s good at this or not” is incredibly candid and emotionally vulnerable stuff. Feeling the pressure on a photo shoot when things weren’t going well for him, his mental well-being feels like it’s hanging by a thread as he forces himself to “love the camera” while clearly struggling with his demons. Lying flat on his back after finishing a match and begging for “a day off…even an hour would be nice” shows a man hanging on to his sanity for dear life.

Underneath the layers of PR and puff piece cliches, there’s a great story to be told about this period of Michaels’ life. It’s just not explored enough here.