10 Dream opponents for Shawn Michaels
He was born Michael Hickenbottom, but most fans around the world know him as Shawn Michaels, the Heartbreak Kid (Or HBK if you're into the whole brevity thing).
Unlike many of his peers, such as the Rock or Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels always wanted to be a pro wrestler. At the age of twelve, he performed at a talent show held at his schoolhouse where he did a wrestling act--complete with fake blood.
Once Shawn reached adulthood he quickly embarked on his journey into the ring. Trained by the legendary Jose Lothario, Shawn greatly impressed veteran talent like Terry Taylor in spite of his lack of experience.
He formed the Midnight Rockers--a name derived from both the Rock and Roll Express and the Midnight Express--with Marty Janetty and they rose through the regional ranks until WWE signed them.
They were fired days later after a bar fight.
However, the door was not shut forever and within a year the Rockers returned to the WWE. Though they never held tag team gold they were a fixture of the tag division and quite popular with children and women throughout the classic era.
Eventually, the Rockers split up, and HBK's career truly began to soar. He worked his way up from the midcard to the Intercontinental championship, and from there into the world title picture. His Iron Man match with Bret Hart at Wrestlemania XII is still considered the gold standard of extended in-ring performance.
Michaels retired the first time in 1998 because of nagging injuries and the fact that he 'lost his smile.' A few years later he returned and seemed to have grown even better during his off years. He engaged in a memorable feud with former friend Triple H and retired Ric Flair.
Then he himself was retired by the Undertaker, and that has been that for years. But now, HBK seems to be warming up to the idea of one more match against a dream opponent. Here are ten men who would make dream match foes for the Heartbreak Kid should he decide to perform one last time.
1. Brock Lesnar
HBK has already faced the Beast Incarnate once, and came up a little bit short. Perhaps Shawn would like to revisit this career loss, and avenge it by pinning the Beast after some Sweet Chin Music.
Chances of facing HBK: Poor to fair. Brock has already faced HBK once before, and as Universal champion, he would be expected to put the title on the line. A man who is only returning for one dream match doesn't make for a very credible challenger, so this may not be the direction HBK goes.