9 More Things We Learned From Shawn Michaels On Talk Is Jericho Part 2

4. Playing Politics & The Creative Process

The topic shifts to politics behind the scenes, and Shawn scoffs at the idea that the atmosphere in wrestling is more political than any other profession. He alludes to CM Punk here, stating that when he walks out it's considered cool that he's standing up to "the man", but when HBK stood up the office he was called unprofessional. Jericho agrees and says he was a pain in the *ss for every single agent he's worked with except for Pat, because he was willing to involve him in the creative process. Now they stick Dean Malenko with him since they're close and let him deal with Chris. HBK says that he's always been willing to go to war over something he believes in, even though his stance softened somewhat when he made his comeback in 2002. He's very passionate about his craft, with Y2J calling him "Mozart and the ring is his canvas" (mixed metaphors notwithstanding). Shawn defends his attitude by stating "If you don't have ego you don't do this stuff. Darn near every top guy at one time or another has been in trouble at some point or another. It's all in how somebody wants to spin it about whether they were professional or not."