HBK collapsing on RAW - 1995?

[Weems2k]

Something I always wondered about, and can't really remember if there was a followup to this. I believe it was 1995, and HBK was taking on Owen Hart on RAW. Suddenly Micheal's grabs his head, and just passes out. I didn't have cable at the time, so I just just saw highlights of it on Superstars. I remember everyone with a "what the hell" kind of look on their face. Even Owen didn't know what to do.

Was this actually legit, or part of an angle to have HBK take time off?

[GameOver]

Yes and No. the part with Owen was a storyline but he did suffer a concussion just the month b4 In October 1995, he was legitely attacked by several marines outside a bar in Syracuse, New York. at the In Your House: Great White North pay-per-view the same month after he was attacked, he was declared unable to compete by the officials and forfeited the Intercontinental Championship to Dean Douglas, who in turn Douglas lost the championship to Razor Ramon.. The next month, during a match with Owen Hart on an episode of Monday Night Raw, Owen performed an enzuigiri that struck the back of HBK's head. They continued the match, but Michaels collapsed in the ring, the commentry team said he had suffered a concussion but really they were working in a retirement angle so that he could take time off to heel his injuries from the bar fight (where he suffered a concussion) and other niggling injuries he had

and that was the storyline where he lost his smile that they've refered to and Triple H has made fun of many times since.

However he was only "retired" for 2 months, returning to win the 1996 Royal Rumble and go onto WrestleMania 12 and win the title in the iron man match against Bret Hart (Top 5 best Mania matches of all time)

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by GameOver

Yes and No. the part with Owen was a storyline but he did suffer a concussion just the month b4 In October 1995, he was legitely attacked by several marines outside a bar in Syracuse, New York. at the In Your House: Great White North pay-per-view the same month after he was attacked, he was declared unable to compete by the officials and forfeited the Intercontinental Championship to Dean Douglas, who in turn Douglas lost the championship to Razor Ramon.. The next month, during a match with Owen Hart on an episode of Monday Night Raw, Owen performed an enzuigiri that struck the back of HBK's head. They continued the match, but Michaels collapsed in the ring, the commentry team said he had suffered a concussion but really they were working in a retirement angle so that he could take time off to heel his injuries from the bar fight (where he suffered a concussion) and other niggling injuries he had

and that was the storyline where he lost his smile that they've refered to and Triple H has made fun of many times since.

However he was only "retired" for 2 months, returning to win the 1996 Royal Rumble and go onto WrestleMania 12 and win the title in the iron man match against Bret Hart (Top 5 best Mania matches of all time)

That storyline had nothnig to do with HBK "Losing his smile", that speech was made on Thursday Raw Thursday in February 1997. Shawn used the tiome off to have his injuries from the flogging in Syracuse, he was off television for a handful of weeks before returning just before the Royal Rumble to announce he was entering and would fulfill his boyhood dream. There was no talk of retirement in 1995, and Michaels was only off tv for a handful of shows. He was also supposed to use this time to ween himself off the recreational drugs he was smashing at that point of his career, the bar fight he was involved in, it was reported that Michaels was off mhis face on Somas and alcohol,(lethal cocktail), Bulldog and X-Pac have both been quoted as stating Michaels was that out of it, he didnt even defend himself when getting his head slammed into a car door

[The Brain]

Originally Posted by Weems2k

Something I always wondered about, and can't really remember if there was a followup to this. I believe it was 1995, and HBK was taking on Owen Hart on RAW. Suddenly Micheal's grabs his head, and just passes out. I didn't have cable at the time, so I just just saw highlights of it on Superstars. I remember everyone with a "what the hell" kind of look on their face. Even Owen didn't know what to do.

Was this actually legit, or part of an angle to have HBK take time off?

Originally Posted by thebarber

There was no talk of retirement in 1995, and Michaels was only off tv for a handful of shows.

The collapse in the ring was part of an angle and a possible retirement was part of it. Remember this



There was talk of HBK having to retire because of the injuries but instead he was able to come back and win the Royal Rumble. The next month he wrestled Owen Hart at In Your House as Owen spent three months bragging about how he put Michaels out of action. The angle was well done the night of the collapse. McMahon and Lawler went off headset and really sold it like it was real. It's not easy to make people think an angle is real but the WWF had a lot of people wondering that night.

[TheHorndogSays]

That collapse happened in Richmond, VA. I was a little 12 year old kid in attendance who was devastated by what happened. I always said if I somehow became a wrestler, I'd turn heel on Michaels because of that night haha. But yes the collapse was well done from a legit standpoint. I remember it took them a LONG time (or at least it seemed like a long time) to get Michaels on the gurney and out of the ring then there was Dok Hendrix on Superstars the following Saturday morning making a special announcement only seen to the Richmond market on how Michaels appreciated the concern shown by us that night. Screw that, I was happy I was able to use that as an excuse to stay out of school the next day.

[uvx]

The collapse was a work, but it was so Shawn could take time off to heal injuries.
Only Vince and Shawn knew about the faint to make it more realistic.

[dukes07]

I think the best part of the whole thing was how Shawn's story kept changing. I think eventually he claimed he was attacked by upwards of ten guys. He just happened to fuck with the wrong people that night and got his ass kicked.

The angle itself was indeed well done. WWF in 95 had these inklings of greatness with that angle and then Diesel's brief work-shoot. But they never really followed through. Though Owen got to brag about taking him out and it led into the Rumble with HBK coming back and winning.

[theHeadliner]

According to Bret Hart's book, he and Owen knew, and the announcers knew as well.

[HBsam31]

I always remebered this to be a work. It had me believing it was real at the time so it must have been done well. It was to give HBK time to heel some injuries between then and Mania if I remember correctly. When HBK fell in the ring I thought he was legit injured, and I believe they played it into a possibly retirement angle. It got the fans even more behind Shawn, and it was one of those storylines that until later I wasn't sure if it was real or a work.

[deanerandterry]

Was this actually legit, or part of an angle to have HBK take time off?

According to Michaels this was an idea that Kevin Nash came up with right after he got a real concussion from a bunch of marines the night before he gave up the IC title to Shane Douglas. At the time Michaels was pretty much a lock to win the title at WM12 from Bret Hart and they felt it was a good way to give Michaels some sympathy coming into the Royal Rumble as they played the "Michaels shouldn't be competing" angle during that time. I remember the angle being done very well and I would say they accomplished what they were trying to.

I believe only a few people knew it was an angle as I don't even think Owen knew about it initially, from what I heard only Nash, Michaels and Vince knew it was an angle and everyone else was kept in the dark.