What If: Shawn Michaels

[Khalifa]

During the mid 90's Shawn Michaels was one of, if not the biggest star the WWF had. He was having awesome fueds, matches and segments that we all loved to watch. He could be either heel or face because he knew what to do inside that ring. After several world title reigns and making one of the best stables in wrestling history, Michaels suffered a legimate back injury that would force him to retire from pro wrestling.

Lets rewind a bit though shall we, what if Michaels was to not get injured in that match? What would of happened to other stars? Would the Rock become half the man he is today with Michaels still in the spot light? Would Jericho be as well known as he is now if Michaels was still running the show back then. What would of happened to WWF/WWE back then if Michaels wasn't to get injured? Did it happen for better or for worse?

 

[WunNightStan619]

Interesting post. I never really gave much thought as to what would have happened of HBK never took those years off. Wun could only assume that it would have slowed down The Rocks rise to the top. He would have eventually become huge, but not quite as fast. I think we would see alot of HBK/Austin, HBK/HHH and HBK Undertaker...i could see him being a heel during the time of the Corperation/Ministry era...Wun person that probably benefited most from HBKs absence was HHH. He really the wun who's growth would have been stunted i think. He was too close to shawn personally and i feel like HBK would have continued to outshine him...interesting to think about tho

would have been great to see HBK and The Rock in their prime together

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

In Shawn's case I think it was better that he got injured.

As the leader and a power drunk top star I really believe if he wasn't injured and if he was still forced to drop the title to Austin' he would've eventually jumped to WCW.

His best bud was the main booker there, he had a bad bad pill problem, and to be honest I dunno if he would've survived it.

The time off he took helped him tremendously. Stepping away from the road he got his life together, beat his demons, found God and came back the better.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

In Shawn's case I think it was better that he got injured.

As the leader and a power drunk top star I really believe if he wasn't injured and if he was still forced to drop the title to Austin' he would've eventually jumped to WCW.

His best bud was the main booker there, he had a bad bad pill problem, and to be honest I dunno if he would've survived it.

The time off he took helped him tremendously. Stepping away from the road he got his life together, beat his demons, found God and came back the better.

Absolutely agreed, Shawn stepping away from the business like he did most definitely saved his life. I believe had he not been "forced" to do so because of the back injury he would have eventually went to WCW with his buddies and probably would be much like Scott Hall is right now or worse. If Shawn would have left HHH probably could have been convinced to leave with him since that would have made the Kliq the most powerful force in wrestling down in WCW.

If Shawn stuck around in the WWF/E for another long run then HHH definitely would not have had his rise to fame at the time because he would have kept playing sidekick to HBK. The second version of DX with the New Age Outlaws and X-Pac probably wouldn't have formed and even if they did it would not have been the same with HBK as the leader instead of HHH. I think the Rock and Austin would be the least effected by HBK sticking around though, they were going to be huge stars no matter what. We would have just seen a lot more Austin vs HBK and would have actually seen The Rock vs HBK which we never did get to see because of HBK leaving when he did for the hiatus.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

...The Rock vs HBK...

Well the story there (so said our Bible- Gospel of Metzler) is that The Rock wanted a program with HBK but Shawn refused saying that Rocky wasn't in his league.

Then, when The Rock became a samoan/black Jesus, Shawn asked for a feud with The Great One, and guess what happened.

Some recounts by Hunter in certain interviews about HBK and how he was after leaving give you an insight as to how much he alienated himself and spiralled.

 

[thebromm]

Austin was the next top guy. He was taking the strap regardless of HBK's back. I certainly agree that if he hadn't injured his back we would've had an HBK memorial show somewhere between 2000-2002... HBK at the time of his back injury had I believe, a 10 year deal with WWE. He wasn't going to WCW regardless of whether Nash was booking.

God interfered in his path and thankfully so. He finally realized what he was doing to himself and turned to God and truly changed his life. He became a good man and good Christian. Had he not, he and Bret Hart would NOT be friends today. That moment on Jan 4 RAW between Shawn and Bret was truly unbelievable if you were a fan during the 97 incident. The emotion during that segment was true and honest and I think it took a lot of weight off both mens' shoulders.

 

[waylonmercy]

HBK leaving was definitely the best thing that could have happened. HBK was totally power hungry and I doubt would have jobbed to Austin and if he did it would have been in great controversy to the point that Austin would have looked bad. There wouldn't have been Austin vs. McMahon since HBK would have wanted that main spot, and I am 100% sure Austin would have never reached the level he got to if he had HBK in his shadows. The thing is, once HBK departed, the core stars were not greedy individuals and VKM was THE boss. It was probably the 1st time since VKM bought out his father that he probably didn't have some greedy star at top. HHH got out of HBK's shadows and started to develop his own personality through his creation of DX, then he got Stephanie, etc. It was around that point that business really did start to pickup and I am glad HBK retired for him and for the business.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Shawn is my favorite wrestler of all time. I wish nearly every time I see him he would have never had those hiatuses due to the back issues. Yeah they helped him break his addictions but he lost about 6 prime years. He had an ego though and up until he found religion he was an asshole backstage by most accounts. So he would have probably either pushed other top guys out or jumped ship. Triple H probably would have never reached the point he did. The Rock would probably be a mid carder most of his career, Stone Cold would have still been big, he never needed the belt to be a star.

On a side note these are pretty fun threads TS. Nice to delve into the "what if" world every now and then

 

[dman1373]

i think he still would have droped the belt to steve. I do think he would have turned face and he would have been the second face behind steve. Dx would be doing what it was doing but hunter would not have gotten so over. It might have taken hhh alot longer to be a main eventer. I think dx would have disbanded because triple h kept it around as a crutch to be over for a long time. hhh would have never married steph. Shawn would have turned heel and been chasin the title for a while, this would have put rock on the back burner for wrestlemania 15. Lets be honest the rock was only vinces pawn at that time. So it would have been shawn vs stone cold rematch at wm 15. And thats as far as im going.

And i have read some posts saying that shawn would be going to wcw. No if shawn wanted to go to wcw he would've already left. He was a company man. He would've been paid like 2 mil a year and would have got kevin and scott paid 2 mill a year but he probably would have been lost in the talent tornado known as the wcw.

 

[PrideWS]

This all from my prior knowledge and my opinion of revising the past.

Shawn's injury was major in the history of the WWF in several ways.

1. Obviously the loss of HBK on the card
2. Austin was given the chance to be THE guy, and we saw how that went
3. Triple H had a chance to lead DX and himself to superstardom
4. The Rock came to be a major player in a very fast manner

Much of this was what helped the WWF beat WCW, but if Shawn would have been hurt, would any or all of the above have happened?

My vote is a resounding YES.

If he didn't get hurt, Shawn would probably have been just as big of an a**hole as he had been up to the injury. He couldn't have stopped Austin from getting to the top, and he didn't. However, he could have stopped, or at least stalled, Rocky. Yes, The Rock was groomed to be a star for a long time, but if HBK was around for all that time (see next paragraph), he would not have been pushed to the moon until around late 1999 or early 2000, assuming that Austin still left due to the neck injury. Before and during then, he would have found a way to put Triple H above him at every possible turn, which would have led him to stardom.

I do feel, though, that Vince at some point would have made Shawn take time off and sent him to rehab, taking him off TV. He would have b*tched and moaned about Austin being ahead of him like the prima donna he was and would have gotten Austin and Vince angry in the process. His drug problem would have spiraled out of control and his self-perceived image of where he should be on the card not being the same as Vince's vision would have exacerbated the problem. At that point, whenever Shawn being taken off of TV would have been, The Rock would have jumped to the top of the card and become a major player fast.

In the process of staying around, Shawn would have made two new enemies (Austin and Rock) after having ironically getting rid of one (Bret) and he would have turned his life into a horrifying tale along the lines of Scott Hall or Matt Hardy. However, IMO not much would have changed and he would still have had just as big of an impact on the business as he did in leaving, but in radically different ways.

And for those looking at the "Shawn would have gone to WCW" argument, if Shawn didn't get hurt, there is no way that he would go to WCW. Let's not forget that while Nash and Hall were there, so was Bret, who would have beat the sh*t out of him on his first day on the show IMO. They could have protected him all they wanted, but as long as Bret was under contract, he was part of that organization, and they weren't about to release a guy they had paid $9 million for. Add to the fact that HBK was a guy Vince supported and had a big contract with, and you see that the situation would have not happened, at least as any of us would see it happening.

 

[J.J.]

More importantly I feel this would've strongly effected Mick Foley as he saw two main events following Wrestlemania 14 competing against Austin for the belt as Dude Love and later down the road winning it as Mankind - with emergence of The Rock and Austin not to mention a veteran in Undertaker along with HBK in main event scene I don't think there would be room for Foley.. Don't think this would have slowed down Austin or The Rock though. Definitely not HHH as he had klout now and then.

 

[thebarber]

Michaels was already playing politics with The Rocks career in 1996-1997. The Rock has spoken many times on his dislike and resntment of Michaels and Nash for their treatment of him in that era.
The Rock would always have gotten to the level he did. Austin had already surpassed Michaels before he left. Blokes like Jericho and Edge I believe would have suffered the most by HBK still being aroubnd. I also feel Kurt Angle would have been buried backstage by HBK as Angle was a proven natural at the business so early in his career. With HBK hounded by drug issues, I actually believe HBK would no longer be with us, sadly, if he had not taken stock of his life. Remember even though he did not wrestle for 4.5 years, he spent alot of time in WWE before and after operations involved in storylines and politicing for HHH backstage.

 

[theHeadliner]

I don't think Shawn would have went to WCW... He was looking forward to the New Age Outlaws and the Kid joining DX before he got hurt... He knew they had the cutting edge program and that he was leading the way behind the scenes...He also sure as hell didn't wanna be around Bret Hart. He would have still been a cocky, arrogant asshole and could have ended up as one of the wrestling tragedies too young. He would have been in the title scene with Austin, he didn't like Rock and probably would have done everything in his power to keep him down. HHH would have been riding his coattails. Its one of those great "what ifs."

 

[J.J.]

How can anyone sit here and discuss he would have died tragically? That's absurd.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

And for those looking at the "Shawn would have gone to WCW" argument, if Shawn didn't get hurt, there is no way that he would go to WCW. Let's not forget that while Nash and Hall were there, so was Bret, who would have beat the sh*t out of him on his first day on the show IMO. They could have protected him all they wanted, but as long as Bret was under contract, he was part of that organization, and they weren't about to release a guy they had paid $9 million for. Add to the fact that HBK was a guy Vince supported and had a big contract with, and you see that the situation would have not happened, at least as any of us would see it happening.

If you go down and look at the people who hated each other and still worked at WCW because it had amazing pay, you wouldn't be surprised, you'd understand. And you think guys like Hall and Nash and Syxx would've just sit there and let HBK get 'beat' by Bret? Many times the top talent would just evoke some stupid clause in their ginormous contract, sit home and get a certain amount of pay, owed to them. Looking back, if Shawn had moved into WCW, Bret would've thrown a hissyfit and tried his best to collect his pay sitting on his ass, thus not getting in the ring with Goldberg. You see where I'm going with this.

One last thing, Vince always knew when a superstar needed to step back and let someone else ride the wave. He did it with Hogan and Savage, they refused and left for WCW. Why would Shawn's case be any different?

 

[Khalifa]

I think everybody agrees that it would of only hurt the company. I totally forgot about guys like Kurt Angle and HHH. Although I still firmly believed that HHH would have been a big star because of the fact that him and Stephanie had a thing (I am not saying thats the only reasons, but more oppotunities would have risen with them together than them not being together), it wouldn't of happened until maybe the late 2000's. Kurt Angle probably wouldn't of even won his world title in the Armageddon Hell in the Cell and his legacy would be half of what it is today.

Michaels did have a huge power problem, it has been spoken publically multiple times and he also had a drug addiction. When Shawn Michaels left thats probably when WWE became it's best. Stone Cold was the main face. We had feuds like Austin vs Rock, Austin vs HHH and HHH vs Foley which probably wouldn't have been as good with HBK in the company. Vince would have kept HBK for a little while longer and kept up with his power issues until he finally got sick of them and finally releasing him. HBK wouldn't of left to go to WCW because what he had at the WWF/WWE were too good for him to lose. Even if he had friends like Nash and Hall over there.

Getting injured was definately the best thing that happened to Shawn. He became so much more mature and learnt to do good in life than bad. He refused to have any titles when he came back because he wanted to develop younger guys and let other guys have the spot light. It is also well known that Shawn is a big religious person now, something that wouldn't of happened if he didn't get injured. So basically Shawn getting injured was not only the best thing to happen to the WWF/WWE but to also to happen to himself.

 

[Wald]

I think everyone is right on the money with this one. HBK would have done everything in his power to derail Austin and the Rock, hell there are loads of reports of the Kliq already messing with the Rock around 1997 and Bret being the only thing stopping them from screwing him over completely. With Bret out of the picture a healthy HBK would never have let the Rock get close to the top of the card. So one of two things would have happened:

Option A) McMahon continued to be blinded to HBK's failings as a top of the card babyface never gives the Rock a chance and doens't push Austin as hard

Option B) McMahon realises he needs to choose between Austin or HBK and lets his mind rule his heart and ditches HBK.

I shudder to think what would have happened to Shawn in WCW, career wise I'd imagine about the same as Bret (no way he goes over Hogan, more likely HBK becomes just another member of the nWo), personally I think its a decent bet that we'd be watching a HBK documentary like the one we just had on Hall

 

[Davi323]

How can anyone sit here and discuss he would have died tragically? That's absurd.

Not really. Shawn Michaels freely admits how many drugs he was taking in the 90s. He wasn't just on the road to self destruction, he was speeding down it. He has been very open about his struggles with drug abuse. Had he not gotten the injuries that eventually led to his departure, that drug use would have gotten worse, not better. When you look at a lot of the big name wrestlers that have died over the last 20 years due to complications from drug use, Shawn Michaels was doing the exact same thing they were doing, only he was doing more, longer. He wasn't just doing them recreationally from time to time, he was a hardcore abuser. There is no reason to think that unlike everyone else, he would have been immune to the side effects.

His injury was the best thing that could have happened to him. If he isn't injured, he isn't at home watching Nitro one Monday. If he isn't watching Nitro, he never sees the Nitro girl nicknamed Whisper. If he never sees Rebecca/Whisper, he never gets in contact with her. He never gets in contact with her, they never start dating. They never start dating, they don't marry. They don't get married, they don't have kids. They don't have kids, HBK never has his "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING???" epiphany in relation to the alcohol and drug use. Without that epiphany, he continues to spiral out of control until he is found dead in his bathroom from a cocaine overdose.

HBK's previous drug use, the direction his life was taking, make the speculation that he would have died anything but absurd. His injuries probably saved his life. Shawn might even use those injuries as an example of God working in mysterious ways to guide him to where he needed to be.

 

[dman1373]

i don't get why everyone is acting like business would have been down if michaels left. If you didn't notice 1997 was the greatest year (creatively) in the business and especially in the wwf. Durring that time no one was being held back. I mean shawn was only champion for like the last 2 monthes. Everyone acts like he was holding people down but who did he ever hold down. He put the nao over by putting them with dx in a number of matches and events. He put austin over. He made shamrock look like a million bucks, he had not won cleanly for like the last 5 monthes. What he was difficult to work with, but never held anybody down. I mean the lanscape would have been different, but not worse. Austin was already going to be the champion. He did win the royal rumble and i don't think a heel had one the main event of wrestlemania before that point. The rock would probably not have main evented wm 15, but the rock really was just vince's pawn at that time. Rock would have still been a main eventer by the time he turned face after wm. The only one that would have been effected is probably triple h, who needed being the leader of dx to propel him to the top. Ive said it before he used the other more charismatic wrestlers in dx as a crutch. And alot of you guys are posting just don't understand because you weren't watching wrestling in 1997. You guys just watched some main event ppvs and act like you know.

And Shawn would not have gone to wcw. He was probably already offered a big stack of money before and also would have loved to have been with his friends, but if you see the promos he cut on wcw back in 97 you would see what he thought of it.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Lets rewind a bit though shall we, what if Michaels was to not get injured in that match? What would of happened to other stars? Would the Rock become half the man he is today with Michaels still in the spot light? Would Jericho be as well known as he is now if Michaels was still running the show back then. What would of happened to WWF/WWE back then if Michaels wasn't to get injured? Did it happen for better or for worse?

Honestly I think it would have been close to the same if Michaels had not gotten injured and had to retire. The way I look at it is that even before Michaels got injured they knew Austin was going to be the guy and the face of the WWE, that was set in stone months before Michaels got injured, same with his feud with Mr. McMahon so their biggest storyline was already in stone. Whether Michaels liked it or not he was going to be taking a backseat and there was no way around it.

The only big difference I see is that for the next few months instead of Foley being the guy facing Austin after he won there is a good chance it would have been Michaels, after that it probably would have happened close to what ultimately did happen. The Rock was a star on the rise and just like Michaels couldn't have held Austin down if he tried there is no way he could have held The Rock down, The Rock was just too good to be held down and Vince recognized that, The Rock was already pretty relevant and high on the card when Michaels retired (he was the last man eliminated in the '98 Royal Rumble, the match BEFORE Michaels gotten injured).

If he would have held down anyone it would have been HHH ironically because he could have very well have stayed leader of DX which would have hurt HHH. On that same note, HHH could have kicked him out the next night after WM14, causing Michaels to turn face and give HHH his first big feud so it really could have went either way for HHH.

HBK would have helped Jericho not buried him I think. If anything HBK being around would have helped the younger talent (except maybe HHH) because he was taking a back seat anyways. There is no way Vince would have let HBK powerplay Austin or The Rock because he already knew they were the future.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

As much as i love Michaels, I really think his injury happened for better. From 1998-2002 (the years he was out) we saw a lot of guys rise to stardom. As a matter of fact, I don't think any 4-year period has ever produced better new stars than 1998-2002. We saw the culmination of Austin's reign on top, The Rock become huge, Triple H become top heel, Kane float around the main event, Foley become champion, Jericho become a main player, Kurt become a main player, and Chris Benoit hang out in the main event scene. Shawn Michaels being on the roster would've definitely prevented a lot of that from happening especially since back then Michaels politicked and was paranoid of losing his spot. His injury helped him re-evalutate his priorities and when he came back he didn't care about his spot or politics and spent most of 2002-2011 putting people like Orton, Cena, Edge, and many more over. IMO, that change wouldn't have occured without the injury and he would've down anything to keep Rock and Jericho down despite their immense popularity

 

[Wald]

WWE and HBK fans have a habit of revising this period too, people sometimes forget that Shawn didn't get over as a top of the card face in 1996. He was always the guy who was better off playing the supporting position of having the best match in the card, not the title match. A true IC Champion in the greatest sense of that meaning.

By the time he retired he was already showing signs of being an after-thought, listen to Jericho on the new Austin DVD and he sums up by saying how amazing it is that HBK was the third wheel of the WM 14 match. I personally think he would have dropped down the card during 1998-2002 if he had stayed with the WWF.

Keep in mind that he stuck around on the mic for a while after retiring and pretty much sucked at the role. Also that his first comeback with the nWo didn't exactly take off either. I've always said that Shawn needed to come back in 2002 and wrestle like he did to regain his legacy. By that time people had started to forget how good he could be when he wanted to be and he was more and more becoming known for being the guy that helped Vince screw Bret

 

[Dagger Dias]

If Michaels had not gotten injured then he would have stuck around in the WWE during the Attitude Era. It would have been cool to see him feuding with The Rock or still leading the version of DX that Trips led. Guys like The Rock and Jericho would still have made it to the top, but Michaels did not start putting over people as much until his second run so they might have taken longer to get there. It's hard to say if what happened was for better or for worse because when he came back he did nothing but put people over and at the time he got injured they had to make him put over Stone Cold before he left. He might have held people back, but then again we will never know. I know I would have wanted to see more of him in the Attitude Era. Things happen for a reason though. It's a very interesting "what if" to think about.