With his second major WWE run, Shawn Michaels carved a new legacy for himself -- he didn't just end any and all doubt about his ability, but he cemented himself as a locker room leader and a role model for young talent. It was a major shift for someone who'd had so many attitude problems during his initial tenure on top of the company. Michaels has admitted that, prior to his becoming a born-again Christian in the early 2000s, he was a drug addict, a liar, and a downright pain in the backside. He was known for manipulating backstage happenings and throwing tantrums to get his own way. Things reached a head in 1997 when HBK claimed an injury and forfeited the WWE Title -- in reality, he simply didn't want to lose it to Bret Hart. Later in the year, he falsely accused Hart of having an affair with Tammy "Sunny" Sytch on screen, leading to a fight between the two men. The worst of it came after the Montreal Screwjob. Though Shawn swore to Bret that he had no prior knowledge of Vince McMahon's plot to call the match in his favor -- and he promised he'd refuse to accept the title -- he was lying. On Raw, Michaels was present to be officially declared the WWE Champion, and in 2003, a changed HBK admitted that he did have advance knowledge of the screwjob. Years later, with his past self buried, Michaels finally made amends with Hart.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
