Vince McMahon sees a lot of himself in a WWE Hall of Famer, says Jim Ross

Vince McMahon apparently sees a lot of himself in a WWE Hall of Famer and four-time world champion. AEW commentator and WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has stated that Vince McMahon feels that Shawn Michaels is a lot like him.

Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon have shared a close bond, with Michaels being his top guy in the 90s, and then a key player in the roster until his retirement. Michaels still works with WWE in some form or the other.

On his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross said that Vince McMahon told him once about how both he and Michaels are defiant and creative individuals.

“Vince told me one time, ‘I see so much of myself in Shawn Michaels.’ He gave all these descriptions. He’s defiant, he’s creative, he’s high strung. I wanted to continue this list with, ‘Yeah, and both of you are insecure, both of you are paranoid of your own shadow, both of you are wondering when the other shoe is gonna drop.’ So, yeah maybe you’re right. Shawn just had so many issues…..he could take a smaller issue like [Vader]’s gear and make a deal out of it," said Jim Ross. (H/T 411 Mania)

Shawn Michaels was with Vince McMahon's company as a wrestler from 1988 to his retirement in 2010. He has appeared for various specials since then, while also being a part of the creative in NXT.

Vince McMahon paid Shawn Michaels $3 Million to stay at home

In the same podcast, Jim Ross revealed that Vince McMahon paid Michaels $3 Million to stay at home between 1998 and 2002.

"I don't know if it was pressure from Vince or not. Vince loved him. It's proven. We paid Shawn $750,000 a year for about four years to do nothing because he was Vince's guy. Every time we go over budgets and things, where are we at with the Shawn contract? Nothing, leave it alone. Ok," said Jim Ross.

Shawn Michaels eventually returned to WWE in 2002 and had eight more years in the company until his in-ring retirement.