Shawn Michaels 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.
88 Facts About Shawn Michaels
2.
Shawn Michaels performed in non-wrestling roles for the next two years, resuming his wrestling career with WWE in 2002 until ceremoniously retiring in 2010.
3.
Shawn Michaels returned for a one-off final match in 2018.
4.
Shawn Michaels was the co-founder and original leader of the successful stable, D-Generation X Michaels wrestled in the American Wrestling Association, where he founded The Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty in 1985.
5.
Shawn Michaels is a four-time world champion, having held the WWF Championship three times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once.
6.
Shawn Michaels is a two-time Royal Rumble winner, the company's first Grand Slam Champion and fourth Triple Crown Champion, as well as a two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee.
7.
Shawn 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.
Michael Shawn Michaels Hickenbottom was born in Chandler, Arizona, on July 22,1965.
9.
Shawn Michaels has an older sister named Shari and two older brothers named Randy and Scott.
10.
Shawn Michaels was raised in a military family and briefly spent some of his early years in the English town of Reading, Berkshire, but grew up primarily in San Antonio, Texas.
11.
Shawn Michaels 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.
12.
Shawn Michaels was a keen athlete while growing up, and his sporting career began at the age of six when he played football.
13.
Shawn Michaels was a stand-out linebacker at Randolph High School on Randolph Air Force Base and eventually became captain of the football team.
14.
Shawn Michaels attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, but dropped out to pursue a career in professional wrestling.
15.
Shawn Michaels made his televised debut on October 20,1984 teaming with Jim Hornet in a losing effort against the tag team of Hercules Harnendez and "Dr Death" Steve Williams.
16.
Shawn Michaels made his national-level debut, as Sean Shawn Michaels, at the age of 20 in the American Wrestling Association, in a victory over Buddhakhan on ESPN.
17.
Shawn Michaels was teamed with Marty Jannetty, billed as The Midnight Rockers.
18.
Shawn Michaels superkicked Jannetty and threw him through a glass window on the set of Beefcake's talk show.
19.
Jannetty returned to the WWF the following year and enjoyed moderate success before leaving the company in 1994, while Shawn Michaels became a prominent villain of the early to mid-1990s as "The Boy Toy".
20.
At the suggestion of Curt Hennig, Shawn Michaels adopted the nickname "The Heartbreak Kid".
21.
Shawn Michaels was put together with mirror-carrying manager, Sensational Sherri, who according to the storyline had become infatuated with him.
22.
At WrestleMania VIII on April 5,1992, Shawn 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.
23.
Shawn Michaels lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jannetty on the May 17,1993 episode of Raw, but regained it on June 6 with the help of his debuting "bodyguard" Diesel.
24.
In 1994, Shawn Michaels entered a rivalry with Razor Ramon, who had won the vacant Intercontinental Championship during Shawn Michaels's absence.
25.
Since Shawn 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.
26.
The next day at SummerSlam, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ramon when Shawn Michaels accidentally superkicked Diesel.
27.
Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble on January 2,1995, which set up a championship grudge match on March 20 at WrestleMania XI against Diesel.
28.
Shawn Michaels returned to the ring as a fan favorite in May 1995 and defeated Jeff Jarrett to win his third Intercontinental Championship on July 23 at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks.
29.
Around this time, Shawn Michaels became the leader of a backstage group known as The Kliq.
30.
In October 1995, Shawn Michaels was the victim of a legit assault outside a bar in Syracuse, New York.
31.
At Survivor Series on November 17, Shawn Michaels lost the WWF Championship to Sycho Sid but recaptured the title on January 19,1997 at Royal Rumble.
32.
Shawn Michaels explained to fans that he was informed by doctors that he had suffered a knee injury.
33.
Shawn Michaels contemplated thoughts of retirement and stated that he "had to find his smile again", which he had "lost" somewhere down the line.
34.
The match ended controversially, with Shawn Michaels hitting Undertaker with a chair.
35.
Shawn Michaels was then forced to award the championship to his nemesis, Bret Hart.
36.
The next night on Raw Is War, signs of a heel turn started to show as Shawn Michaels told the WWF fans what happened at SummerSlam was an accident and that he dealt with the Undertaker when the time came.
37.
Shawn Michaels continued his rivalry with Bret Hart and his reformed Hart Foundation, which was now a pro-Canada stable.
38.
Shawn Michaels taunted the group and Canada by engaging in acts such as blowing his nose with and humping the Canadian Flag.
39.
Shawn Michaels came out of this match, dubbed by fans the "Montreal Screwjob", as the WWF Champion.
40.
Shawn Michaels now held both the WWF and European championships at the same time.
41.
Shawn Michaels dropped the European Championship to DX member Hunter Hearst Hemsley in a farcical match.
42.
On January 18,1998 at the Royal Rumble, in a casket match against The Undertaker, Shawn 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.
43.
On November 23,1999, Shawn 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 main event.
44.
Shawn Michaels got himself involved in the match when Gannosuke delivered a low blow on him and he responded later on with Sweet Chin Music.
45.
Shawn 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.
46.
One month later, Shawn 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.
47.
Shawn Michaels appeared briefly on television to make a speech at WWF New York during Armageddon on December 10,2000.
48.
Shawn Michaels saw potential in using his name and opened the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in 1999, after his lawyer Skip McCormick suggested the idea.
49.
Shawn Michaels left the academy in 2002, giving co-founder Rudy Boy Gonzalez sole responsibility due to Shawn Michaels's new contract with WWE.
50.
Shawn Michaels was a sportscaster for San Antonio's local news for a short period during his retirement.
51.
Shawn Michaels was the only nWo member to have never worked in WCW.
52.
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 Shawn Michaels, who had already been named number one.
53.
Shawn Michaels later interfered in the match, causing Jericho to be eliminated.
54.
Shawn Michaels was fired by Bischoff but rehired by Steve Austin.
55.
The night before this, Shawn Michaels inducted Tito Santana in the WWE Hall of Fame.
56.
At the Royal Rumble on January 30,2005, Shawn Michaels competed in the Rumble match and eliminated Kurt Angle.
57.
Shawn Michaels issued a challenge to Angle for a match at WrestleMania 21, which Angle accepted when he appeared on Raw to attack Shawn Michaels.
58.
Bischoff refused to schedule such a match and instead told Shawn Michaels to find a partner.
59.
Shawn Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him.
60.
Shawn Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd, turning face .
61.
Shawn Michaels said he was only being loyal to his company, he had moved on, and McMahon should move on as well.
62.
On January 29,2006, at the Royal Rumble, McMahon made his way to the ring, and as Shawn Michaels stared at McMahon, Shane McMahon made a surprise appearance to eliminate Shawn Michaels.
63.
On Raw, the two continued to deliver chops, as Shawn 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.
64.
Shawn Michaels then entered a feud with Randy Orton when Orton claimed that he could beat Shawn Michaels.
65.
Shawn Michaels collapsed during their match, causing Orton to win by referee stoppage.
66.
Orton continued the beating and performed an RKO to a fallen Shawn Michaels, who was removed out of the ring in a stretcher.
67.
Shawn Michaels lost the match, when Orton performed an RKO for the win, which ended their feud.
68.
Shawn Michaels ended Ric Flair's career in a Career Threatening match on March 30,2008 at WrestleMania XXIV.
69.
Shawn Michaels was medically cleared to compete at Unforgiven, and beat Jericho so severely that the referee called the match, making Michaels the winner.
70.
In December 2008, having lost his family's savings due to the global recession, Shawn Michaels grudgingly accepted a one-year general employment contract from John Bradshaw Layfield.
71.
Shawn Michaels returned to WWE programming in a series of segments that aired on the August 10,2009 episode of Raw, where he had, in storyline, left the WWE.
72.
Shawn Michaels appeared on the January 10,2011 episode of Raw, where he was announced as a WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011 inductee.
73.
The next night on Raw, Shawn Michaels explained he was upset with Bryan for attacking Triple H during the match and degraded him for not showing him respect, turning heel for the first time since 2005.
74.
Shawn Michaels appeared on the January 9,2017 episode of Raw to promote his new film.
75.
Shawn Michaels was then confronted by Rusev, Lana and Jinder Mahal, before Enzo Amore and Big Cass came to Michaels's side, leading to a match between Big Cass and Mahal, which Cass won after Michaels superkicked Rusev at ringside, distracting Mahal.
76.
Shawn Michaels was one of the many WWE legends who appeared on the January 22,2018 episode of Raw 25 Years.
77.
In late 2016, Shawn Michaels became a trainer at the WWE Performance Center.
78.
In November 2018, Shawn Michaels announced he was officially working as a writer and producer on WWE's NXT brand and show, under former D-Generation X cohort Paul Levesque.
79.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Shawn Michaels received praise for several matches, including 15 Match of the Year awards between Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
80.
Shawn Michaels is cited as an inspiration for many wrestlers such as Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole and numerous other wrestlers.
81.
Shawn Michaels married Rebecca Curci, a former WCW Nitro Girl known as Whisper, at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on March 31,1999.
82.
Shawn Michaels had trouble differentiating between right and left, which affected his football games as a child.
83.
Shawn Michaels contemplated suicide in the late 1980s, and suggested that psychological intervention was "probably sorely needed" by the late 1990s.
84.
Shawn Michaels was raised a Catholic, but became a non-denominational Christian because of his wife.
85.
Shawn Michaels was in the audience for a televised service of John Hagee's Cornerstone Church in his hometown of San Antonio, where he is a Bible teacher.
86.
Shawn Michaels joins his hunting partner and longtime friend, Keith Mark, owner and operator of the original MacMillan River Adventures camp in Yukon, Canada, as they hunt big-game animals around the world.
87.
Shawn Michaels met with Penguins' owner Mario Lemieux and sat with former Pittsburgh Steelers's defensive lineman Brett Keisel during the game.
88.
Outside of his numerous appearances with WWE, it was not Shawn Michaels first visit to Pittsburgh.