Shawn Michaels: A look back at the glorious career of Mr WrestleMania

The Heartbreak Kid is one of the most influential stars to ever step foot inside the squared circle and after his retirement, left a legacy that can never be matched.

Shawn Michaels in a file photo. (Image credits: wwe.com)
By Sujay Gaurav | Jun 3, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Imagine this. A person that has all the qualities that you’d want in a wrestler. Good looking, charming, can talk well and most importantly, is a damn good wrestler. No, we are not talking about some made-up wrestler in a video game. We are talking about Shawn Michaels. Michaels, who is most fondly known as the “Heartbreak Kid”, was a trailblazer in the 90s and was someone who people looked up to. His charisma was unmatched and he much to everyone’s envy, HBK had his way with the ladies too. He was also christened Mr WrestleMania. Such was the impact he had on WWE.

The Rockers

For someone who went on to have probably the greatest singles career in the WWE, Shawn started off very humbly. When he first came to the company, he was part of a tag team known as “The Rockers” with Marty Jannetty. They achieved success together but Michaels was too good a wrestler to be in a tag team and very soon, he forayed as a singles competitor. He was very much liked by his bosses as he was thrust into the main event picture almost immediately. He went to win the Intercontinental Championship and had one of the best matches in history against Razor Ramon for the aforementioned title.

The Montreal Screwjob

What followed next is probably the most talked-about incident in the WWE, The Montreal Screwjob. At the 1997 Survivor Series pay-per-view, Bret Hart was supposed to lose the WWF title to Michaels but he didn’t want to do it in front of his hometown of Montreal. Vince McMahon, however, decided that Hart had to drop the belt and let Shawn Michaels win the match. This led to a lot of controversy as an enraged Hart spat on McMahon and left the WWF. Shawn now held the distinction of holding both the WWF title and the European title at the same time.

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First Retirement

For all the great moments in his career, Michaels also faced some very bad ones. He suffered a very bad back injury in his match against The Undertaker at the 1998 Royal Rumble which caused him to herniate two discs and crush one completely. He was rendered unable to compete after that and was forced to retire. Shawn then made a comeback in a non-wrestling capacity and worked as a guest commentator eventually being made the commissioner of WWE. HBK made his in-ring return after four long years and had memorable feuds with the likes of Triple H, Chris Jericho and Hulk Hogan etc.

Formation of DX

Shawn along with his best friend, Triple H, co-founded one of the most notorious factions in WWE history known as D-Generation X. DX is so over with the fans that it is still relevant today. During his time with DX, Michaels went on to win tag team gold and had a lot of memorable moments. One of their best moment came during SummerSlam in 2009 when they made an entrance in an actual military tank. These sorts of moments were what summed up DX. Comedic segments were a staple for the fans during this time and it’s fair to say that no matter how bad the joke was, the crowd reacted unanimously in appreciation.

The Streak vs The Career

HBK’s career however will be looked back upon with fondness based on what he achieved at the grandest stage of them all, WrestleMania. He had a lot of great matches at Mania but the ones that immediately spring to mind are the matches he had with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 and 26. The drama and the action that came along with his rivalry with Taker were something to behold. It was the sort of thing that transcend eras and had superstars and fans alike raving. Shawn Michaels proved to everyone in the world that he was indeed Mr WrestleMania.