Michael Shawn Hickenbottom did not have an enviable childhood as he spend much of it moving around. His father was in the military, so he moved frequently, but always considered San Antonio, Texas to be his home. Shawn who went by his middle name because he disliked his real first name wanted to be a professional wrestler by the time he was twelve years old, and decided to pursue that dream after dropping out of Southwest Texas State University.
Shawn began his wrestling career under the tutelage of Jose Lothario and began wrestling in small time promotions such as Mid-South Wrestling, Central States Wrestling, and Texas All-Star Wrestling, a promotion based out of his hometown San Antonio. It was during this time that he began to pair with Marty Jannetty, and after impressing audiences all over the territory with their wrestling ability and cool personalities they soon got a call from the big leagues and were offered a contract with AWA.
Shawn was just twenty when he debuted on National Television alongside with his tag team partner Marty Jannetty, and the duo was dubbed The Midnight Rockers. They found success in the AWA as they continued to impress audiences and were rewarded with a fairly long run with the AWA World Tag Team Championship. In 1987 Michaels and Jannetty caught their big break when they signed with the WWF or so they thought. Just two weeks after signing with Vince McMahons promotion they were fired for a bar room incident. They returned to the AWA, but Vince must have liked what he saw in the ring out of the pair, because he signed them back to the WWF just a year later.
Now going simply by The Rockers, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty maintained their status as one of the most popular tag teams in professional wrestling. Though they started being a live event act, the team quickly made their way up the card until they were a mid-card staple that received airtime both on television and pay-per-view. The team was meant to win the WWF Tag Team Championships from the Hart Foundation when Jim Neidharts contract was set to expire, and they actually did defeat the Harts at a taped match. However, Neidhart resigned shortly before the show was scheduled to air and the belts were simply returned to Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart without The Rockers reign ever coming to fruition. This would be the closest Shawn Michaels ever came to capturing the tag titles with Jannetty by his side as the duo broke up when Shawn infamously superkicked Jannetty before tossing him through the window of Brutus Beefcakes Barbershop.
Now that his union with Jannetty was effectively destroyed, Shawn Michaels was ready to begin a singles career. While we all know and love Shawn as The Heartbreak Kid, this was originally a heel moniker used to describe the cocky and vein Michaels whom had his valet, The Sensational Sherri, carry a mirror to the ring for him so that he could make sure his hair was perfect. To add to his rock star-esque self-obsession, an announcer would say, Shawn Michaels has left the building, after Michaels had finished wrestling his match and went backstage.
Shawn Michaels fittingly achieved his first pay-per-view victory at WrestleMania 8 where he defeated Tito Santana (El Matador at the time) in the shows opening match. This win meant Shawn was ready to step up and challenge for the singles titles, and did so in losing efforts against WWF Champion Randy Savage and Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart. He would win his first singles title, the Intercontinental Championship, by defeating The British Bulldog on Saturday Nights Main Event. Michaels would enjoy success all over the midcard for three years before taking some time off. When Michaels returned he became a fan favorite.
Shawn would win the 1995 Royal Rumble and a shot at the WWF Title at WrestleMania 11, which was then held by his former bodyguard and tag team partner Diesel, but was unable to win the match. Hed get another shot at the WWF Title a year later after winning the 1996 Royal Rumble, this time wrestling Bret Hart in a 60 minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania 12. After having a 0-0 tie, Shawn Michaels got a pinfall victory in overtime, and the boyhood dream of Shawn Michaels had finally been recognized as he became the WWF Champion.
Shawns next major accomplishment came with the formation of one of wrestlings all time greatest stables, Degeneration X. Along with Triple H, Chyna, and Rick Rude, Shawns Degeneration X would feud with long time rival Bret Harts Hart Foundation. Shawn would insult Canada. Shawn would later capture the WWF Title from Hart at the 1997 Survivor Series PPV, which is known as the infamous Montreal Screwjob. Shortly after this Shawn Michaels suffered a serious back injury in a casket match against The Undertaker, but continued to wrestle under great pain. He dropped the WWF Title to Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14 and helped to usher in the Attitude Era. Unfortunately for Michaels, he was unable to be part of this historic time in wrestling as he was forced to retire due to his back injury.
During his time off Shawn Michael tried his hand in a number of different careers in wrestling and non-wrestling ventures. He played the role of commissioner for Raw briefly, opened and ran his own wrestling academy (where he helped trained the likes of Paul London, Brian Kendrick, and Daniel Bryan), and was even the sportscaster on a local San Antonio news channel. However, Michaels would return to his first love, professional wrestling, in June of 2002. He re-debuted as a heel, but quickly turned face and teased reforming Degeneration X with Triple H, only to be pedigreed by his former ally.
Shawn would remain a fan favorite for the rest of his career and would have one more World Title run in 2002 that would last only a month. He would go on to have some of the best feuds in the post-Attitude Era WWE with guys like Triple H, Jericho, and JBL, and of course, The Undertaker.
Despite having a very long and extremely successful career, Shawn Michaels may be best remembered by some fans for his wars with The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25 and 26. Many people consider his WrestleMania 25 match to not only be one of Shawn Michaels best, but one of the best matches in the history of American wrestling. After losing his first match with Undertaker, Michaels challenged The Undertaker to a rematch at WrestleMania 26 with the added stipulation of being forced to retire if he loses. Sure enough, Shawn Michaels lost to the Undertaker, and thus ended the 23 year career of the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.
Shawn Michaels will be best remembered for his innovative style and ability to put on a spectacular match. Shawn competed in the first ladder match, first Hell in a Cell match, and first Elimination Chamber match. He was also, along with Bret Hart, among the first of the smaller guys to represent the company as the world champion. He has had some of the most spectacular matches in the history of WrestleMania, including his Triple Threat match with Triple H and Chris Benoit, his Iron Man match with Bret Hart, and singles matches with Kurt Angle, John Cena, and The Undertaker. Hes also one of two men and the only American to win the match of the year title three years in a row from the Wrestling Observer. Both his ladder match with Razor Ramon and his Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker have received five stars from Dave Meltzer and he has won the PWI Match of the Year eleven times, including a period from 2004-2010 where he won it every single year.
Shawn Michaels will always be remembered not just for his great personality, but also as one of the very best wrestlers to ever get in the ring. His love for the business is unquestionable, and hes done more than his fair share to give back to it. Thanks to Shawn Michaels the WWE fans have dozens of matches and moments that they can relive time and time again, making Shawn one of the most memorable wrestlers in the history of professional wrestling.
Did you know?
Shawn Michaels once posed for Playgirl magazine? He was unaware that it has a mostly homosexual readership when he posed for it. The fact that he is a now devout Christian makes this all the more hilarious.
Shawn Michaels has forfeited the most titles in WWE history (3 times).
Though his Mr. WrestleMania nickname may imply otherwise, Shawn Michaels has a terrible record at the event. He holds a record of 3-8 with his three wins coming over Tito Santana, Bret Hart, and Chris Jericho.
Its a well known fact that Shawns wife, Rebecca, is a former Nitro girl. Where did Shawn take Rebecca on their first date? Being a rich and classy guy, Shawn took her to the nicest place in town... Denny's.