#06 SHAWN MICHAELS

Ring Performance - 9
Mic/Charisma - 8
Overall Impact - 9

I will confess that I have never been a fan of Shawn Michaels but I do have to put him on this list. I am generally not a fan of small guys who wrestle and he is the smallest man on this hallowed list. He is one of the few stars in wrestling history that did not work in both the WWF and WCW. His career with the WWF began in1987 as a tag team wrestler. He and Marty Jannetty were the "The Rockers". They had a great gimmick...they had all-time great mullets and Shawn would wear big hanging earrings. They were a high-flying tag team who were popular in an era of bigger, slower wrestlers. They were a mid-card tag team until 1990 when they faced the Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team belts. They were scheduled to, and won the belts but after Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart agreed to a contract the match was voided and the belts were given back to the Hart Foundation. This was the beginning of a long feud with Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

Shawn Michaels was the face of the WWF as it struggled in the early 1990s with legal issues related to rampant steroid abuse. Steroid abuse?? Impossible in my opinion but nevertheless the WWF was forced use smaller and more athletic wrestlers and Shawn Michaels was the prototype for the new WWF superstar. He and Bret Hart were the biggest stars in the WWF and this naturally led to a genuine rivalry between them. Shawn Michaels split from The Rockers and he made a heel turn. He would come out with a mirror and was in awe of himself (one of the all time best gimmicks). I can remember him playing with his mullet in the mirror and I also remember that women were in love with him. He was certainly pretty so this allowed him to make his heel turn successfully. Bret Hart, on the other hand, was the classic good-guy face (probably the last one). Their feud would begin with Hart defending his WWF Championship against Michaels at Survivor Series in 1992.

His in-ring ability was his biggest asset. He was a smaller and more athletic wrestler and this allowed him to do use a different skill set than most of his contemporaries. The late 80s WWF was dominated by big plodding wrestlers who mostly kicked, punched and body slammed each other. Michaels, on the other hand, was doing moonsaults, top rope elbow drops, and superkicks. In addition, he threw himself around the ring at break neck speed and was not afraid to take legendary bumps. He was in the first ladder match matched up against Razor Ramon (he lost) at Wrestlemania X. This match was named "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1994, one of the six "Matches of the Year" he wrestled in, an all-time record. He is known as the innovator of this type of match but it was Bret Hart who brought the idea to the WWF.

He became WWF Champion in 1996 in a marathon match against Bret Hart. Later, as champion, he forfeited the belt due to injury (in his words). He was scheduled to lose the belt to Hart at Wrestlemania and it is widely believed that he did not want to lose to Hart. This subplot would continue to play out culminating in the Montreal Screwjob..the most infamous incident in WWF history. I will fully detail the Montreal Screwjob a bit later but basically Michaels was booked with Hart and the match was supposed to end in a disqualification with Hart retaining the belt but Vince McMahon wanted to strip Hart of the title due to contract issues and he, the ref and Michaels conspired to take the belt away from Hart. Michaels put Hart in the Sharpshooter and the ref rang the bell as if Hart submitted...he did not. This was a violation of Hart's contract...Hart had two clauses in his contract....he would lose his belt in Canada or to Michaels. Needless to say, Hart was pissed and he spit on and punched Vince in real time....it was not a job, it was 100% real.

Michaels later retired from the ring due to injuries. He fell on to a casket in a match against The Undertaker herniating two discs and crushing one other. He was a founding member of Degeneration X, a stable that would dominate the late 90s WWF. He, along with HHH, were the leaders of DX and they were just plain great. They would come out and make fun of Double U C Double U (WCW) with fake southern accents. They also targeted Vince, Shane McMahon and The Rock with classic skits. Shawn Michaels was critical in launching HHH into stardom and the two of them have been the creative force behind the WWF since then. He is now wrestling in a somewhat limited capacity against the advice of doctors...he is no longer the athletic marvel that he once was but he is still one of the big stars of the WWF.

Shawn Michaels is a legend, end of story. His impact on wrestling has been immense. His athletic style changed the sport forever. He blazed a trail for the Chris Jericho/Eddie Guerrero/Chris Benoit's of the world which of course made wrestling a more entertaining product. It is not a stretch to say that he has been the biggest star in the WWF since Hogan left for the WCW and he, along with Hart, kept the WWF in business in the mid 90s. If you don't agree....I got two words for you.......SUCK IT!!

— arthur@arthurshall.com