Biography of shawn michaels childhood backgrounds
Shawn Michaels
American professional wrestler (born 1965)
"The Showstopper" redirects here. For the BoJack Horseman episode, see The Showstopper (BoJack Horseman).For other people with similar names, see Sean Michaels (disambiguation).
Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of the NXT brand, the promotion's developmental territory.[6] Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is known by the nicknames "The Heartbreak Kid" (often abbreviated as HBK), "The Showstopper", and "Mr. WrestleMania".[7]
Michaels wrestled consistently for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed in 2002), from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998. He performed in non-wrestling roles for the next two years, resuming his wrestling career with WWE in 2002 until ceremoniously retiring in 2010. He returned for a one-off final match in 2018. In 2016, he began working as a coach at the WWE Performance Center, and was a producer on NXT in 2018, before becoming the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative for the NXT brand itself.
In WWF/WWE, Michaels headlined pay-per-view events between 1989 and 2018, main-eventing the company's flagship annual event, WrestleMania, five times (12, 14, 20, 23 and 26). He was the co-founder and original leader of the successful stable, D-Generation X. Michaels also wrestled in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he founded The Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty in 1985. After winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice, the team continued to the WWF as The Rockers and had a high-profile breakup in January 1992. Within the year, Michaels twice challenged for the WWF Championship and won his first Intercontinental Championship, heralding his arrival as one of the industry's premier singles stars.
Michaels is a four-time world champion, having held the WWF Championship three times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championshiponce. He is also a two-time Royal Rumble winner (and the first man to win the match as the first entrant), the company's first Grand Slam Champion and fourth Triple Crown Champion, as well as a two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee (2011 as a singles wrestler and 2019 as part of D-Generation X). Michaels won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated "Match of the Year" reader vote a record eleven times, and his match against John Cena on April 23, 2007, was ranked by WWE as the best match ever aired on the company's flagship television program, Raw.[8] Michaels has been a participant in several first installments of a number of WWE's signature gimmick matches—namely the first Hell in a Cell at the Badd Blood: In Your House, the first Ladder match during a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge (and subsequent first pay-per-view installment at WrestleMania X), both the inaugural (as part of The Rockers tag team) and first televised (at WrestleMania XII) Iron Man matches, and Elimination Chamber at the 2002 Survivor Series.
Early life
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom was born in Chandler, Arizona, on July 22, 1965.[9][10] He has an older sister named Shari and two older brothers named Randy and Scott. He was raised in a military family and briefly spent some of his early years in the English town of Reading, Berkshire,[9] but grew up primarily in San Antonio, Texas. As a child, he disliked the name "Michael" and convinced his family and friends to address him by his middle name.[11] Ever since, he has been referred to as Shawn. Additionally, Hickenbottom moved around frequently since his father was in the military.[11] He knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler at the age of 12 and performed a wrestling routine at his high school's talent show, complete with fake blood.[10][12] He was a keen athlete while growing up, and his sporting career began at the age of six when he played football.[13] He was a stand-out linebacker at Randolph High School on Randolph Air Force Base and eventually became captain of the football team.[2][14] He attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, but dropped out to pursue a career in professional wrestling.[15] His cousin Matt Bentley is also a wrestler.[16]
Professional wrestling career
National Wrestling Alliance (1984–1985)
Hickenbottom began to train under Mexican professional wrestler Jose Lothario.[4][17] During his training, Hickenbottom adopted the ring name, "Shawn Michaels".[1] After his training with Lothario, he debuted as Shawn Michaels with the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Mid-South Wrestling territory on October 16, 1984, against Art Crews, losing to Crews via swinging neckbreaker. Michaels's performance in his debut match impressed many veterans, including Terry Taylor. Michaels made his televised debut on October 20, 1984, teaming with Jim Hornet in a losing effort against the tag team of Hercules Hernandez and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.[18]
In January 1985, he debuted for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), the NWA territory in Dallas, Texas. In April 1985, Michaels went to work for another NWA territory in Kansas City called Central States Wrestling.[19] There, he and tag team partner Marty Jannetty defeated The Batten Twins for the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship, later losing it back to the Battens.[10]
Texas All-Star Wrestling (1985–1986)
After leaving Kansas City, he returned to Texas to wrestle for Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW).[1] During his time with TASW, Michaels replaced Nick Kiniski in the American Breedtag team, teaming with Paul Diamond. Michaels and Diamond were awarded the TASW Tag Team Championship by Chavo Guerrero Sr.[10] The team was later renamed American Force.[20] While in TASW, Michaels and Diamond feuded with Japanese Force.[citation needed]
American Wrestling Association (1986–1987)
Michaels made his national-level debut, as Sean Michaels, at the age of 20 in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in a victory over Buddhakhan on ESPN. He was once again teamed with Marty Jannetty, billed as The Midnight Rockers. The Midnight Rockers won the AWA World Tag Team Championship, defeating Doug Somers and Buddy Rose.[4]
World Wrestling Federation and return to AWA (1987–1988)
In 1987, The Rockers were signed by a competing promotion: the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[4] They were fired from WWF two weeks later, for a bar incident (a misunderstanding, according to Michaels's autobiography).[4][21] They then returned to AWA, where they won the AWA tag team titles for a second time,[10] but were re-signed by WWF a year later.[21]
Return to the WWF/E
The Rockers (1988–1992)
Main article: The Rockers
The Rockers redebuted at a WWF live event on July 7, 1988.[22] Due to WWF chairman Vince McMahon's desire to have his performers carry WWF-exclusive ring names, Michaels and Jannetty were renamed, as simply The Rockers.[1] The team proved popular with both children and women[4] and was a mid-card stalwart of television and pay-per-view shows for the next two years.[23] During this time, Michaels headlined his first pay-per-view for the WWF when The Rockers were involved in the 4-on-4 Survivor Series match main event of Survivor Series on November 23, 1989, which they won.[24]
On October 30, 1990, The Rockers unofficially won the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), as Neidhart, half of the championship team, was in the process of negotiating his release from the company.[23] The match was taped with The Rockers winning the title, but soon after Neidhart came to an agreement with management and was rehired.[23] The championship was returned to the Hart Foundation, while the title change was never broadcast or even acknowledged on television (though The Rockers did have a successful title defense on November 3, 1990, against Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) before the title was returned to the Hart Foundation).[23] When news spread, WWF explained that the original result was void due to a collapsed turnbuckle in the ring during the bout. A buckle had indeed broken, but not to a noticeable or dangerous extent during the match.[1] The Rockers continued their partnership, eventually splitting on December 2, 1991, aired January 11, 1992, on Wrestling Challenge, during an incident on Brutus Beefcake's televised Barber Shop talk show promotional segment.[25] Michaels superkicked Jannetty and threw him through a glass window on the set of Beefcake's talk show.[4][26] Jannetty returned to the WWF the following year and enjoyed moderate success before leaving the company in 1994, while Michaels became a prominent villain of the early to mid-1990s as "The Boy Toy".[25]
Heartbreak Kid (1992–1995)
See also: Two Dudes with Attitudes
At the suggestion of Curt Hennig, Michaels adopted the nickname "The Heartbreak Kid".[4] Along with his new name came a new gimmick as a vain, cocky villain.[27] He was put together with mirror-carrying manager, Sensational Sherri, who according to the storyline had become infatuated with him.[25] Sherri even sang the first version of his new theme music, "Sexy Boy".[1] During that period, after Michaels had wrestled his scheduled match at live events, his departure was announced with "Shawn Michaels has left the building", alluding to the phrase "Elvis has left the building".[28]
At WrestleMania VIII on April 5, 1992, Michaels defeated Tito Santana in his first pay-per-view singles match after both men had simultaneously eliminated each other from that year's Royal Rumble.[29] Michaels subsequently became a contender to the promotion's singles titles and failed to win the WWF Championship from champion Randy Savage in his first opportunity to compete for that title at British event UK Rampage, held on April 19 at the Sheffield Arena and broadcast on Sky Movies Plus[30] (the match later aired in the US on the edition of June 15 of Prime Time Wrestling).[31] Michaels was also unable to win the Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart in the WWF's first ladder match at a Wrestling Challenge taping on July 21, which was subsequently made available on multiple Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases.[32][33] However, he won the title from The British Bulldog on Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI, which aired on November 14.[34] He faced Hart for the WWF Championship at Survivor Series on November 25, but lost the match.[35] Originally the secondary main event, Michaels and Hart became the primary main event after The Ultimate Warrior was unable to compete and was replaced by Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig) in the tag team match that involved Randy Savage against the team of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon.[36] During this time, Michaels and Sherri split and he engaged himself in a feud with former tag team partner Marty Jannetty.[4] Michaels lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jannetty on the May 17, 1993, episode of Raw,[34] but regained it on June 6 with the help of his debuting "bodyguard" (and off-air friend) Diesel.[1][34]
In September 1993, Michaels was suspended for testing positive for steroid – a charge he never admitted.[37] On WWF programs, his suspension was explained by his having neglected to defend the title often enough. After turning down World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s advances, Michaels returned to the WWF and made several appearances in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) during a WWF/USWA cross-promotion. He returned on November 24 at Survivor Series, substituting for Jerry Lawler, who was dealing with legal issues, in a match pitting himself and three of Lawler's "Knights" against the Hart brothers, Bret, Bruce, Keith and Owen.[38]
In 1994, Michaels entered a rivalry with Razor Ramon, who had won the vacant Intercontinental Championship during Michaels's absence.[39] Since Michaels had never been defeated in the ring for the title, he claimed to be the rightful champion and even carried around his old title belt.[39] This feud culminated in a ladder match between the two on March 20 at WrestleMania X.[39] Michaels lost the match, which featured both his and Ramon's championship belts suspended above a ladder in the ring.[38][39] This match was voted by fans as "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.[4] It also received a five-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer, the first of nine WWF/E matches to do so. Over the next few months, Michaels battled various injuries and launched the Heartbreak Hotel television talk show segment, mainly shown on Superstars.[40]
On August 28, Michaels and Diesel won the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu).[41] The next day at SummerSlam, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ramon when Michaels accidentally superkicked Diesel.[38] This triggered a split between the two, a storyline that was drawn out until Survivor Series on November 24.[42] Michaels won the Royal Rumble on January 2, 1995,[43] which set up a championship grudge match on March 20 at WrestleMania XI against Diesel (who had gone on to win the WWF Championship from Bob Backlund).[43] As part of the storyline, Michaels recruited Sid as his bodyguard for the build-up, lost the match[44] and was attacked by Sid the following night.[45] After this, Michaels took time off[45] because Vince McMahon wanted Michaels to become a fan favorite.[46]
Formation of the Kliq (1995–1996)
Main article: The Kliq
Michaels returned to the ring as a fan favorite in May 1995 and defeated Jeff Jarrett to win his third Intercontinental Championship on July 24 at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks.[4][47] This led to a title defense against Razor Ramon on August 27 at SummerSlam in a ladder match, which Michaels won.[4] Around this time, Michaels became the leader of a backstage group known as The Kliq.[4] Critics perceive the group to have sufficient clout with WWF owner Vince McMahon, becoming dominant wrestling figures in the WWF for several years in the mid-1990s, causing friction with other wrestlers. Michaels disputes the perception, saying that McMahon pushed only deserving wrestlers.[48] Michaels's fan base was later nicknamed "The Kliq" as an inside reference to the real "Kliq".[49] In October 1995, Michaels was the victim of a legit assault outside a bar in Syracuse, New York.[1] Due to not being able to compete, Michaels was forced to forfeit the Intercontinental Championship to his original opponent Dean Douglas on October 22 at In Your House: Great White North,[50] who in turn Douglas lost the championship to Razor Ramon, another member of the Kliq.[51] During a match with Owen Hart on a November episode of Raw, Hart performed an enzuigiri that struck the back of Michaels's head.[52] They continued the match, but Michaels collapsed in the ring, supposedly because he had suffered a concussion.[1][52] The concussion was scripted, which was kept from most fans at the time.[1] A retirement angle was written so that Michaels could take some time off after he came back from an injury too soon.[1]
WWF Champion (1996–1998)
Main article: D-Generation X
After teasing retirement, Michaels returned to the WWF at the Royal Rumble match on January 21, 1996, winning for the second year in a row to receive a WWF Championship match in the main event at WrestleMania XII.[53] Around this time, Jose Lothario became Michaels's on-screen manager.[54] At WrestleMania XII on March 31, Michaels defeated WWF Champion Bret Hart in the overtime of their sixty-minute Iron Man match, which had ended in a scoreless tie.[4] On May 19, Michaels and his fellow Kliq members were involved in the incident known as "Curtain Call". Diesel and Razor Ramon were about to leave WWF to company rival WCW. After Michaels won a match against Diesel, Ramon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley came to the ring and joined Michaels and Diesel in a group-hug.[55] As Diesel and Helmsley were seen as villains at the time, in contrast to Michaels and Ramon, this constituted a breach of "kayfabe", as acting out of character, which was rare and controversial at the time.[55] As WCW gained momentum due to the signings of Hall and Nash, Michaels held the championship for most of the year. At Survivor Series on November 17, Michaels lost the WWF Championship to Sycho Sid[56] but recaptured the title on January 19, 1997, at Royal Rumble.[57]
On a special episode of Raw dubbed Thursday Raw Thursday, Michaels vacated the WWF Championship.[1] He explained to fans that he was informed by doctors that he had suffered a knee injury. Michaels contemplated thoughts of retirement and stated that he "had to find his smile again", which he had "lost" somewhere down the line.[58] After consulting with Dr. James Andrews, who concluded that he did not need surgery, Michaels underwent four weeks of physical therapy and returned to in-ring action a few months later, briefly teaming with Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.[59] In his autobiography, Michaels discusses his real-life feud with Bret Hart, claiming that Hart did interviews on live television claiming that Michaels was faking his whole injury.[60]
By the spring of 1997, the real-life backstage conflict between Michaels and Hart was reaching its height. Both men were going out on television and frequently making personal, true to heart remarks about one another. Michaels briefly left the WWF in June of that year after a real backstage fight with Hart, just hours before a Raw Is War show, which allegedly resulted from Michaels making an on-air remark, known as the "Sunny Days" comment, implying that Hart (who was married at the time) was having an affair with Tammy Sytch, a manager and valet who was signed to the WWF as Sunny. Michaels and Austin were still WWF Tag Team Champions at the time during an ongoing feud with the Hart Foundation and a tournament was made to decide new tag team champions. Michaels eventually returned that summer in July. At SummerSlam on August 3, Michaels officiated the WWF Championship match between WWF Champion The Undertaker and Bret Hart. The match ended controversially, with Michaels hitting The Undertaker with a chair (unintentionally, as he was aiming for Hart after he spat in his face). Michaels was then forced to award the championship to his nemesis, Bret Hart. The next night on Raw Is War, signs of a heel turn started to show as Michaels told the WWF fans what happened at SummerSlam was an accident and that he dealt with The Undertaker when the time came. At WWF One Night Only, held in Birmingham, England, on September 20, Michaels defeated The British Bulldog to capture the WWF European Championship.[62] The fans at the event were so upset at the result of the match they booed Michaels out of the building to the extent that they littered the ring with garbage, cementing his second heel turn.[63] With this win, Michaels became the first Grand Slam Champion.[2] At In Your House: Badd Blood on October 5, Michaels defeated The Undertaker in the first Hell in a Cell match, during which Michaels fell off the side of the 5-metre (15 ft) high structure through a table.[64] The match received a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer.[65]
In the fall, Michaels joined forces with real-life friend Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later known as Triple H), Helmsley's then real-life girlfriend Chyna, and Rick Rude to form the stableD-Generation X (DX).[66] Michaels continued his rivalry with Bret Hart and his reformed Hart Foundation, which was now a pro-Canada stable. Michaels taunted the group and Canada by engaging in acts such as blowing his nose with and humping the Canadian Flag. Michaels later claimed the flag desecration was Hart's idea.[67] Michaels's feud with the Hart Foundation culminated in a WWF Championship match at Survivor Series on November 9 against Hart. Michaels came out of this match, dubbed by fans the "Montreal Screwjob", as the WWF Champion.[68] Michaels now held both the WWF and European championships at the same time. Michaels dropped the European Championship to DX member Hunter Hearst Hemsley in a farcical match.[69]
First retirement and hiatus (1998–2002)
On January 18, 1998, at the Royal Rumble, in a casket match against The Undertaker, Michaels took a back body drop to the outside of the ring and hit his lower back on the casket, causing him to herniate two discs and crush one completely.[4][70] Michaels went on to win the match[4] but the injury rendered him unable to compete on the following month's No Way Out of Texas: In Your House as advertised, and forced him into retirement a night after losing the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin on March 29 at WrestleMania XIV.[71]
After being away for nearly four months, Michaels made a surprise return to the WWF as a guest commentator on the July 13 episode of Raw Is War. Michaels continued to make non-wrestling appearances on WWF programming and on November 23 he replaced Sgt. Slaughter as the WWF Commissioner, eventually joining Vince McMahon's group of wrestlers called The Corporation.[72] Throughout late 1998 and early 1999, Michaels made regular television appearances on Raw, in which he scheduled matches, throwing around his authority, and sometimes even deciding the outcome of matches.[73][74][75] On the January 4, 1999, episode of Raw Is War, Michaels re-joined DX as a face, but disappeared from WWF television for a few weeks to have back surgery[76] and by the time he returned DX was on the way of dissolving within the next couple of months.[citation needed]
On November 23, 1999, Michaels made a special appearance for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling at the 10th Anniversary Show at the Yokohama Arena, serving as the guest referee for the H vs fake Hayabusa (Mr. Gannosuke) main event. He got himself involved in the match when Gannosuke delivered a low blow on him and he responded later on with Sweet Chin Music.[77]
Michaels made occasional appearances as the WWF Commissioner during the spring and summer of 1999, but remained absent from television after August until May 15, 2000, when he returned on Raw Is War to declare himself the special guest referee for The Rock and Triple H's Iron Man match at Judgment Day.[78] One month later, Michaels briefly reappeared on Raw Is War to hand over the role of Commissioner to Mick Foley, and after another appearance in October did not make any in-arena appearances until mid-2002.[79] He appeared briefly on television to make a speech at WWF New York during Armageddon on December 10, 2000.[80]
On April 4, 2000, Michaels returned to wrestling for a one-night appearance defeating Paul Diamond in a bunkhouse brawl at Texas Wrestling Entertainment.[81][82]
Believing that his wrestling career was over, Michaels was interested in training individuals who wanted to become professional wrestlers.[83] He saw potential in using his name and opened the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy (later the Texas Wrestling Academy) in 1999, after his lawyer Skip McCormick suggested the idea.[83] Michaels left the academy in 2002,[83] giving co-founder Rudy Boy Gonzalez sole responsibility due to Michaels's new contract with WWE.[4] Michaels was also a sportscaster for San Antonio's local news for a short period during his retirement.[83]
Feud with Triple H (2002–2004)
On the June 3 episode of Raw, Michaels returned to WWE television after 18 months of absence when Kevin Nash announced him as a new member of the recently reformed New World Order (nWo). Michaels was the only nWo member to have never worked in WCW.[84] After the nWo had disbanded, Triple H appeared to make amends with Michaels. This was solidified when Michaels pleaded Triple H to return to Raw.[85] Later on, they came down to the ring sporting their DX music and attire. When the pair was about to perform their trademark "Suck It" taunt, Triple H turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him.[85] Continuing the angle, in his first WWE match since WrestleMania XIV, Michaels defeated Triple H at SummerSlam, but was attacked by Triple H with a sledgehammer after the match.[86] At Survivor Series on November 17, Michaels won the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in the first Elimination Chamber match.[87] On December 15 at Armageddon, he lost the championship to Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match.[88]
Michaels then began a rivalry with Chris Jericho, after Jericho claimed that he was the next Shawn Michaels.[89] On January 13, 2003, after Jericho won a battle royal to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble, choosing number two in order to start the match with Michaels,[90] who had already been named number one. At the Royal Rumble on January 19, Jericho, with the help of Christian, eliminated Michaels. Michaels later interfered in the match, causing Jericho to be eliminated.[91] Michaels defeated Jericho on March 30 at WrestleMania XIX but was low-blowed after hugging Jericho.[92]
At Backlash Michaels lost to the team of Jericho, Triple H and Ric Flair in a 6-man tag team. This led to a match between Michaels and Flair at Bad Blood, which Flair won. Following this, Michaels continued feuding with the members of Triple H's faction Evolution. He was unsuccessful in capturing the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam with Triple H retaining in the second Elimination Chamber match. He then lost to Randy Orton at Unforgiven. At Armageddon, Michaels defeated the groups enforcer Batista.[93]
On the December 29 episode of Raw, Michaels seemingly defeated Triple H after a Sweet Chin Music for the World Heavyweight Championship in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas, with Eric Bischoff as the special guest referee (Earl Hebner originally refereed the match, only to be knocked out by Triple H in the middle of the match). However, Bischoff reversed the decision due to both men's shoulders being on the mat. Angered by this, Michaels attacked Ric Flair and Bischoff. He was subsequently fired by Bischoff but rehired by Steve Austin.[94]
As a part of an ongoing feud with Triple H, the two competed alongside Chris Benoit in the main event on March 14, 2004, at WrestleMania XX for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Benoit won.[95] The night before this, Michaels inducted Tito Santana in the WWE Hall of Fame. A triple threat WrestleMania rematch for the title took place on April 18 at Backlash, where Benoit successfully retained it after forcing Michaels to submit to a Sharpshooter.[96] Due to the "Montreal Screwjob" incident, the Edmonton crowd booed Michaels, with chants of "You screwed Bret!" being heard during his match at Backlash.[97] At Bad Blood on June 13, Michaels lost to Triple H in the longest Hell in a Cell match in history.[95] Four months later, he lost a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H, after Edge interfered on October 19 at Taboo Tuesday, when the fans voted for him ahead of Edge and Chris Benoit to face Triple H one more time.[98] Following this, Michaels was out of action for a few months with a legit torn meniscus.[2][99]
D-Generation X reunion (2005–2007)
See also: D-Generation X reunion
At the Royal Rumble on January 30, 2005, after losing to Edge, Michaels competed in the Royal Rumble match and eliminated Kurt Angle. In seeking revenge, Angle re-entered the ring and eliminated Michaels, and thus placed him in an ankle lock submission hold, outside the ring.[100] Michaels issued a challenge to Angle for a match at WrestleMania 21, which Angle accepted when he appeared on Raw to attack Michaels.[101] The following week on Raw, Marty Jannetty and Michaels had a one time reunion as The Rockers and defeated La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier).[102] Three days later on SmackDown!, Angle defeated Jannetty, after Angle made Jannetty submit to the ankle lock.[103] To send a "message" to Michaels, Angle also humiliated Michaels's former manager, Sensational Sherri, when he applied the ankle lock hold on her.[104] At WrestleMania on April 3, Angle defeated Michaels by submission, again with an ankle lock.[100]
Michaels performing his signature pose, pictured in 1995 and 2008
The next night on Raw, Muhammad Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault Michaels.[105] On the April 11 episode of Raw, Michaels approached General ManagerEric Bischoff, in which he demanded a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused to schedule such a match and instead told Michaels to find a partner. Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him.[106] On the April 18 episode of Raw, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to save Michaels and accept his offer.[107] At Backlash on May 1, Hogan and Michaels defeated Hassan and Daivari.[108] Later, in a WrestleMania rematch, Michaels defeated Kurt Angle (who was drafted to Raw in the draft lottery) on June 26 at Vengeance.[109] On the July 4 episode of Raw, after defeating Carlito and Kurt Angle, Michaels hit Hogan with his Sweet Chin Music, knocking Hogan to the ground and turning heel for the first time since 1998.[110] The following week on Raw, Michaels appeared on Piper's Pit where he superkicked Roddy Piper and then challenged Hogan to a match at SummerSlam, which Hogan accepted the following week.[111][112] Hogan defeated Michaels at SummerSlam on August 21, and after the match Michaels extended his hand to him, saying "I needed to know, and I found out" and he and Hogan shook hands. Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd, turning face once again.[113] He became the first person to cleanly defeat Chris Masters on September 18 at Unforgiven with Sweet Chin Music.[114] On the October 3 WWE Homecoming episode of Raw, he wrestled old rival Kurt Angle to a 2–2 draw in a 30-Minute Iron Man match. Afterwards, he challenged Angle to sudden-death overtime, but Angle refused and walked out.[115] He was part of Team Raw at Survivor Series on November 27, but lost the match to Team SmackDown!.[116]
On the December 26 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon lauded Michaels for his part in the "Montreal Screwjob". Michaels said he was only being loyal to his company, he had moved on, and McMahon should move on as well. McMahon then began setting unusual stipulations for Michaels' matches and interfering on behalf of Michaels' opponents.[117] On January 29, 2006, at the Royal Rumble, McMahon made his way to the ring, and as Michaels stared at McMahon, Shane McMahon made a surprise appearance to eliminate Michaels.[118] On the February 13 episode of Raw, McMahon unsuccessfully forced Michaels to sign retirement papers.[119] The following week, Michaels won a handicap match against the Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky and Mikey), after which Michaels's former partner, Marty Jannetty, saved him from the assault by the Spirit Squad. After the two reunited, McMahon offered Jannetty a contract if he "kissed his ass."[120] The following week, Jannetty refused McMahon's offer and instead took Chris Masters's "Masterlock challenge."[121] Michaels tried to help Jannetty, which ultimately resulted in Shane attacking Michaels and forcing him to kiss his father's behind.[121] On March 18 at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXII, Shane defeated Michaels in a Street Fight after he applied a sharpshooter on Michaels, leading to McMahon ordering for the bell to be rung though Michaels did not submit, which was an allusion to the "Montreal Screwjob".[122] Despite interference from the Spirit Squad and Shane, Michaels defeated McMahon on April 2 at WrestleMania 22 in a No Holds Barred match.[119] At Backlash on April 30, The McMahons (Vince and Shane) defeated Michaels and "God" with help from the Spirit Squad in a no disqualification tag team match.[123] On the May 22 episode of Raw, the Spirit Squad was scripted to injure Michaels's knee.[124] This angle was written so Michaels could have surgery on his knee, which had been legitimately injured for some time.[125]
In 2006, a series of events took place which suggested a reunion of Michaels and Triple H as DX. They began at WrestleMania 22, where both Michaels and Triple H performed the crotch chop during their matches.[119] On Raw, the two continued to deliver chops, as Michaels feuded with Vince McMahon and Triple H went to challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship, repeatedly butting heads with Vince McMahon in the process. On the June 12 episode of Raw, DX officially reunited.[126] During Triple H's gauntlet match, which had him compete against the Spirit Squad. Michaels came in to help Triple H, and the two did the DX "crotch chops."[126] On June 25 at Vengeance, DX defeated the Spirit Squad in a 5–on–2 handicap match.[127] They also defeated the Spirit Squad on July 15 at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII in a 5-on-2 elimination match and defeated The McMahons on August 20 at SummerSlam.[128] At Unforgiven on September 17, DX defeated the McMahons and ECW World ChampionThe Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match, ending the feud.[129]
At Cyber Sunday on November 5, DX lost to Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) after fan-selected referee Eric Bischoff allowed the illegal use of a steel chair to give Rated-RKO the ill-gotten win and the plaudit of being the first tag team to defeat DX in a tag team match since their reformation in June 2006.[130] On November 26 at Survivor Series, Team DX emerged victorious against Team Rated-RKO in a clean sweep victory.[131] At New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, Triple H suffered a legit torn right quadriceps during their match with Rated-RKO.[132] Rated-RKO claimed victory over DX, citing Triple H's injury, as the "end" of DX.[133] On the January 15 episode of Raw, Michaels lived up to his word of "dealing" with Rated-RKO, from his comments the previous week before,[134][135] when he took out Randy Orton with a con-chair-to after a handicap match against Edge and Orton.[136] At the Royal Rumble on January 28, Michaels was the last man eliminated in the Royal Rumble match by the winner of the match, The Undertaker.[137]
Various feuds and championship pursuits (2007–2009)
On the January 29 episode of Raw, Michaels captured the World Tag Team Championship with WWE Champion John Cena after defeating Rated-RKO.[138] At WrestleMania 23 on April 1, Cena retained the WWE Championship against Michaels after making him submit to the STFU.[139] The next night on Raw, Michaels and Cena competed in two back-to-back ten team battle royals, winning the first and losing the World Tag Team Championship in the second to The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) when Michaels threw Cena over the top rope.[140] Michaels faced off with Cena, Edge and Randy Orton in a fatal four-way match on April 29 at Backlash for the WWE Championship, where Cena retained the title after Michaels performed Sweet Chin Music on Cena, causing him to fall on Orton for the pinfall.[141]
Michaels then entered a feud with Randy Orton when Orton claimed that he could beat Michaels.[142] The week before their scheduled match on May 20 at Judgment Day, after Michaels won a match against then-World Heavyweight Champion Edge, Orton attacked him by punting Michaels in the head.[142] Orton assaulted Michaels again prior to their match at Judgment Day, interrupting Michaels's interview segment.[143] Michaels collapsed during their match, causing Orton to win by referee stoppage.[143] Orton continued the beating and performed an RKO to a fallen Michaels, who was removed out of the ring in a stretcher.[143] During the feud, Michaels suffered a storyline concussion. This injury was used to keep Michaels out of action, as he required surgery for his knee.[144] Michaels made his return on the October 8 episode of Raw, performing Sweet Chin Music to newly crowned WWE Champion Randy Orton during his title ceremony at the end of the show and then celebrating over the knocked-out champion as Vince McMahon watched.[145] On October 28 at Cyber Sunday, Michaels was voted by the fans to face Orton for the WWE Championship, though he won via disqualification when Orton hit Michaels with a low blow, which resulted in Orton retaining the championship.[146] Michaels got another opportunity at the WWE Championship, when he was granted his rematch against Orton on November 18 at Survivor Series.[147] In their match, Michaels was banned from using Sweet Chin Music upon request by Orton, referring to as Michaels superkicking Orton week after week.[148] Michaels lost the match, when Orton performed an RKO for the win, which ended their feud.[147]
Michaels defeated and ended Ric Flair's career in a Career Threatening match on March 30, 2008, at WrestleMania XXIV.[149] Afterwards, Batista confronted Michaels about his actions at WrestleMania, calling him selfish and egotistical.[150] On April 27 at Backlash, with Chris Jericho as the guest referee, Michaels defeated Batista.[151] Jericho then confronted Michaels, in which he admitted to faking a knee injury in order to defeat Batista.[152] Michaels defeated Jericho on May 18 at Judgment Day.[153] At One Night Stand on June 1, Michaels lost to Batista in a stretcher match.[154] On the June 9 episode of Raw, Michaels was attacked by Chris Jericho during his talk show segment, The Highlight Reel, being thrown directly through a television screen.[155] The following week, it was revealed that, within the context of the storyline, Michaels had suffered a detached retina.[156] On July 20 at The Great American Bash, Jericho defeated Michaels by referee stoppage after assaulting Michaels's eyes.[156]
At SummerSlam on August 17, Michaels announced his retirement from professional wrestling. That night, Jericho punched Michaels's wife in the face.[157] On the August 25 episode of Raw, Michaels renounced his retirement and challenged Jericho to an unsanctioned match at Unforgiven on September 7, which Jericho accepted.[158] The next week, they had a contract signing for the match and were involved in a brawl, causing a legit small triceps tear for Michaels.[159][160] He was medically cleared to compete at Unforgiven, and beat Jericho so severely that the referee called the match, making Michaels the winner.