Guest Column: An Ode to Shawn Michaels by Jaykob

Note from John: This is a one time column from a reader named Jaykob. He sent it to me saying it wasn’t even meant to be a column. However, I read it and liked it so much that I told him I’d share it. Why? Because it’s about my favorite wrestler ever: Shawn Michaels. This doesn’t mean you should be writing me long letters about your love for HBK. I’m not posting random stuff. This is an exception. Enjoy it.

An Ode to Shawn Michaels
By Jaykob

As I watched RAW this past Monday, I was struck by the video package the WWE made of Shawn Michaels. It featured an excellent cover of Kate Bush’s song “Running Up That Hill” by Placebo. I also marked out when the stipulation, career vs. streak, for his rematch with The Undertaker was revealed. Now, before someone accuses me of being a mark, I realize that, even though it’s billed as a retirement match, Shawn will probably be back even if he loses. With that said, regardless of the outcome at Wrestlemania, the career of HBK is coming to an end sooner than later. I thought I had already accepted that, but something about this past RAW made that realization really hit home with me and I started thinking about my own story as a fan of professional wrestling and the impact that Shawn Michaels has had on my childhood. Needless to say, I had underestimated just how important the guy was to me, and so I was inspired to write a little something about how I was feeling. Despite this not being a Pulitzer Prize piece of writing, I hope you, the patrons of this blog, read this and identify with my feelings as a long time fan of professional wrestling even if you are not a big fan of Shawn Michaels specifically. Every wrestling fan has their heroes and Shawn Michaels just happens to be mine.

In the early to mid-nineties the WWF product was crap save for two shining jewels: Shawn Michaels and Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Back then, I was just a kid, but I couldn’t bring myself to jump over to WCW no matter how bad the product degenerated. Kids like me who stuck around after Hogan and the big boys left, we fell into two camps: those who were for Bret Hart and those who were for HBK. Over a decade later, I think the lines of distinction we drew as kids never faded away and most of us who remember being a kid in that era still experience that divisive mark as a feint outline. But this isn’t a post about Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels. Regardless of which camp one chose back then, you couldn’t go wrong. It was simply a matter of taste.

Again this blog is mostly about me, and I was firmly in the camp of Shawn Michaels. I don’t know exactly why — I still loved Bret Hart and everything, but there was something about Michaels’ swagger, his contempt for authority, his unscripted humor, and this genuine quality of recklessness he exuded that just resonated with me. Years later, I discovered that the man behind the character I adored was a prima donna in real life at that stage of his career, but it didn’t matter at the time. When I was a kid I had no knowledge of backstage politics. This was way before I had any concept of an Internet Wrestling Community, before TMZ, before “kayfabe” was a known term to the average fan. And I had followed HBK’s career as a Rocker, his first IC title reign, his first ladder match. I remember marking out when he won the WWF Title at Wrestlemania 12, going crazy when I watched him in the First Hell in the Cell match against the Undertaker, ect.. It didn’t matter whether HBK won or lost, I was always in awe of what he did in the ring. He was the greatest wrestler I had ever seen; the perfect performer. He always promised to steal the show and he always did. He was the surest thing in wrestling at the time and it was worth putting up with all the terrible gimmicks, bad matches, and horrible commentary just to get to the match Shawn Michaels was wrestling in.

When Shawn injured his back and retired, right before the Attitude Era was really about to explode, I was crushed. Like a lot of people, I thought his career was over and that he would never wrestle again. But Despite the loss, however, the wrestling business was changing and so was I. WWE was putting aside cheesy gimmicks, clowns, and a kid friendly product and exchanging them for an edgier image. At the same time, I had also developed into a rebellious teenager, the perfect demographic for the new WWF/E. I also started perusing wrestling websites, posting at wrestling message boards, and honing a finer appreciation for the subtle intricacies of professional wrestling. To be honest, amidst the excitement of the Attitude Era, it was easy to get over Michaels’ departure, simply because the greatest era of wrestling had so much more than any one man could offer: Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Mick Foley, Edge, Christian, and on and on. During this era, I saw some of the greatest matches of all time (Austin vs. Rock at X-7 always stands out).

But even the greatest era in WWE history had to come to an end eventually. It didn’t go out of style over night, but slowly dwindled, until it became stale and then, finally, a parody of itself. As the WWE’s attitude era wound down, however, an amazing thing happened – Shawn Michaels came back. I remember, when they first announced that he’d be wrestling again, everyone assumed that his match against Hunter – a street fight—would be a one time event. Furthermore, there was a sense that not much could be expected match-wise because even Shawn had openly stated that he preferred a gimmick match to a regular singles wrestling match. According to Shawn, it allowed him to disguise his “limitations”.

What limitations? His return match was triumphant and might have gone down as one of the most memorable Michaels matches ever, just by virtue of the fact that he exceeded even the most unrealistic fan’s expectations. It would have too if not for the fact that Shawn would overshadow that performance, continuing to top himself again and again for another eight years. Who could have predicted such a thing? If you would have told an avid wrestling fan at the time that HBK’s second stint as a professional wrestler would result in matches that outdid his matches in the 90s, they would have laughed in your face. But year after year he continued to amaze, retaking his place as the “Showstopper”. It didn’t matter that he worked a reduced schedule or that he rarely wrestled singles matches on live cable shows. When it came time to deliver the goods, Shawn was always ready, giving us classics like Angle/Michaels I, II, and III, a classic feud with Chris Jericho, numerous battles with Triple H, and of course an epic match at Wrestlemania 25 against the Undertaker.

As I reflect on Shawn’s career, I find myself thinking the following: as ridiculous as it is, as moronic and incomprehensible as it may seem to the non-fan, I LOVE professional wrestling – and Shawn Michaels was and always will be my favorite wrestler. In my eyes, he is the complete and total embodiment of everything that made me smile as a kid when I watched WWF Superstars of Wrestling on Saturday mornings and everything that made me stand up and shout when I was a teenager marking out to a PPV at my friend’s house (he had a descrambler). And what I think makes that fact even more special is that I got to fall in love with his persona twice.

So when the time comes to finally say good-bye to Shawn Michaels, I will in-turn be bidding a farewell to a piece of my childhood. But as somber as that thought is, I am completely, utterly, absolutely convinced that Shawn Michaels will give my childhood the most memorable send-off possible; one greater than I can imagine right now. I have faith in this because I know that he is the Heart Break Kid; the Showstopper; the greatest wrestler that has ever lived.