The Night Shawn Michaels Found His Smile
Redemption song is sweet chin music.
When Shawn Michaels claimed to have lost his smile, he was ridiculed - as far as punching up went, it was an uppercut many fans aimed in his direction, just to make sure - but he wasn't technically wrong. He was an unhappy man.
He was an unhappy man impossible to sympathise with. Shawn Michaels was the snake requesting forgiveness for literally the seventh time on February 13, 1997. He lost 10 titles throughout the course of his second run with the WWF between 1988 and 1998. Only three were dropped in the traditional manner, and that definition of "traditional" often includes f*ck finishes in the accepted tropes of sports entertainment. He allegedly pissed hot in 1993 and vacated the Intercontinental title on September 27. Michaels and Diesel dropped the Tag Team Titles on November 23, 1994, when they were unable to function as a team. They didn't/wouldn't put another team over. The titles were simply vacated and won back in a tournament that concluded at the Royal Rumble.
The story demanded a f*ck finish. Diesel and Michaels were headed to WrestleMania XI's WWF Title match. But, since Diesel couldn't do that job - he was three days away from winning the winged eagle - the responsibility fell on Michaels to take a fall very easily explained by the thrust of the narrative. He oozed out of it.
He had a valid excuse for vacating the Intercontinental Title to Dean Douglas on October 22, 1995, but the events of In Your House: Great White North - fellow Kliq member Razor Ramon won it from him immediately - acted as further proof of Shawn's political bullsh*t.
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