8 Most Pathetic Examples Of Backstage Politics In Wrestling
1. Shawn Michaels Sells Big For Hulk Hogan
The Hulk Hogan Vs. Shawn Michaels programme of 2005 was very entertaining - for both earnest and perverse reasons.
Shawn’s very temporary situational heel run was gold. It’s such a shame that he never wanted to do it again full-time; when impersonating Hogan, he rolled back the years to 1997 as a brilliantly hyperactive d*ckhead. Michaels did his best in the delicate political negotiations that make such a big match possible: he went back on his code and played a baddie in order to do business. Hogan, in return, was allowed to soak in the cheers as the goodie - provided he dropped one (1) match to Michaels in a pay-per-view trilogy. Hogan, just to emphasise that last point, was originally scheduled to win the programme in the end. This didn’t happen; it was one-and-done.
Hogan, never one to get his story straight, reckons he refused to go through with the plan after hearing Shawn’s post-match promo on Raw, where Michaels sarcastically said that he lost to Hogan because he was too “cat-like” and “nimble” for Shawn to deal with. Hogan felt disrespected - but this fails to explain why Michael behaved like he did at SummerSlam. Michaels contends that Hogan nixed the idea before the first match, which is why he ripped the piss out of Hogan - an act he admits wasn’t right nor professional.
Shawn responded to this creative control hijack by acting like a petulant child at SummerSlam. Oh, Hulk, you’re so big and strong! You love being so big and strong, don’t you? You’re so mighty that when you kick me in the head I can’t help but bump three times, because you have the strength of three men!
The most petty and farcical in-ring performance in WWE history, Shawn treated a major PPV match like he was dropping the European title to Hunter. It was at least very funny.