Shawn Michaels – A tribute to the Heart-Break Kid

Shawn Michaels

Profile –

Height: 6′ 1″

Weight: 225

Hometown: San Antonio, Texas

Finishing Move: Sweet Chin Music

Career Highlights: WWE Champion; Intercontinental Champion; European Champion; Tag Team Champion; 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumble winner

We’ve grown up watching these wrestlers battle it out in the rings. They’ve inspired us endless times. We’ve even been able to relate to them at some point of time in life.

Wrestling has the ability to create characters that people can relate to. Our desire to see them succeed keeps us watching every week.

Shawn Michaels has been one of the most prolific wrestlers in the WWE and he’s left a lasting impression on all of us.

SummerSlam 2002 was when Shaun Michaels won all our hearts. The Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H feud was amazing. It was beginning of a grudge that lasted for two whole years and no one would’ve ever dreamed that these two would go on to be one of the most-feared tag-team partners in the history of the WWE.

There are moments in wrestling history that are imprinted in your memory. Jim Ross stated during a promo video that “Shawn Michaels and Triple H are closer than most brothers”.

Shawn’s proven time and again that he’s always been a force to reckon with and that he’s far more superior to anyone else in the wrestling arena.

Not that his weight mattered much, but at just 225 pounds, Shawn managed to win the WWE Championship on three occasions, defeating men close to twice his size. The Heart-Break Kid proved that he would do anything to get what he wanted, including putting his body on the line each time he was in the ring.

He was the first Grand Slam Champion — the only competitor to hold every title WWE had to offer then.

He participated in the first (and, many say, most exciting) Hell in a Cell match, against the Undertaker. HBK was intent on being “the Showstoppa, the main-eventer, the icon.”

It took its toll on his long-term health, though. Still in his early 30s, when most superstars are hitting their prime, Michaels had to bow out of the spotlight after losing the title to ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV in March 1998. Soon, he had surgery to take away the pain, but officially end his in-ring career, or so it was thought.

There were sporadic moments when Shawn made his appearance felt, but the period between 2009-2010 is one every die-hard WWE fan will remember for the rest of their lives.

After a lot of convincing by Triple H, Michaels agreed to team up with the former to face The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase) at SummerSlam. D-Generation X went on to defeat The Legacy, and two months later, at TLC, DX went on to defeat Chris Jericho and The Big Show to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.

Wrestlemania XXV was one iconic WWE event. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker – I have chills running down my spine as I write this. A loss for the Undertaker would mean his 16-0 streak would come to an end. A loss for Shawn would mean the end of his WWE career.

These two were pitted against each other for years, and WWE loyalists would tell you that 1997 was when their feud kicked off, never to end. Wrestlemania XXV saw the Heart-Break Kid dressed in white – probably sending a message to The Legendary Deadman that he was coming in peace (which wasn’t quite true!). The Undertaker on the other hand, was dressed in his traditional black coat and hat, living up to his ‘deadman’ reputation.

What started off as a deadly stare, which could melt even the strongest men, went on to become one of the most brilliant matches in the history of the WWE.

The HBK tried everything he knew, gave everything he had, but The Undertaker was determined. He knew what he wanted, and the final Tombstone piledriver, literally drove the last nail into Shawn Michaels’ WWE career.

Finally, in 2010, The Heart-Break Kid called it quits. He gave an emotional speech, thanking everyone who’d been with him right from when he’d started and who helped him to get to where he was right now. He mentioned his long-standing feud with Bret Hart, and asked the latter to forgive him, if it was remotely possible.

(Farewell videos to follow in the next page)