Going back in 1999: Hbk get brutally attacked in the parking lot

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

After his retirement in 1998, Shawn Michaels would make occasional appearences on WWE TV sometimes as a comissioner, commentator or other special appearences.

Many of those are pretty forgetable including this moment: 4th of January, 1999. The same night Manking wins his first WWF Championship, Shawn Michaels gets bruttaly attacked in the parking lot by members of the Corporation. But there is a small hidden secret behind this attack.

Here are some facts:
-Triple H handed Shawn the wrong keys, which resulted in Shawn not being able to open his car.
-When HBK said "I'l be back", HHH replied "Maybe, maybe not".

Is it just me, or these small details hinted the start of the Triple H-HBK rivalry?
On top of that, Triple H would join the Corporation two months later, at Wrestlemania XV.

However, HBK returned at the very first episode of Smackdown, to be the guest referee for a WWF Championship match between HHH and The Rock. That night, Triple H cost The Rock the WWF Championship. The attack seems to be forgotten. HBK wouldn't return until May/June of 2000.

And the nonsense continues. In his second return, HBK announces that he, once again, will be the special guest referee for the 60-Minute Ironman match between The Rock and Triple H. Triple H then goes to say something along the lines of: "Shawn my friend, If you don't call this match the way it should be called, I can guarrantee you, you won't see the light of another day"
So, HBK is once again a face and creative hints a huge Triple H vs HBK feud to kick off for a second time. However, HBK calls the match down the middle and If it wasn't for The Undertaker causing a DQ, Rocky would have walked out Judgement Day, still WWF Champion.

Fast forward to 2002, the Triple H-HBK feud finally kicks off! During a DX reunion, Triple H pedigrees Shawn Michaels and the rest is history.

My point? Why did they have Shawn once as a face, then as a heel and then again as a face?
Was the Triple H vs HBK feud three years late? Why even bothering hinting, twice, If Shawn wasn't able to wreslte?

My theory? HBK told them that he would return to the ring in 1999. Then he saw that with Austin, Rock, Foley, Taker the spotlight wouldn't be on him. Back sugery suddently pops up out of nowhere, and HBK is gone for a year. And the reason of HBK superkicking The Rock? Who nows? Everybody wanted to see Rocky vs Shawn Michaels. WWF actually trolled the fans, twice.

What are your thoughts? What do you think was WWF's plan and what really happened?

 

[The Brain]

I doubt the WWF even knew where they were going back then. Things seemed to change on a whim on a week by week basis. Back then it was all about lame swerves to pop a high rating for Raw regardless of how it affected anything down the road. Instead of storylines being planned out ahead of time and using the tv show to get to that goal, the tv shows seemed thrown together every week and the storylines were adjusted accordingly.

They were probably hoping to do something with HBK and HHH in early 1999. There were a couple times between 1998 and 2002 that Shawn was expected to come back but whether it was injuries or drug problems there was always something that prevented it. When he finally did come back in 2002 he jumped right into the feud with HHH and you could just tell it was something they had thought about doing for years. It worked out pretty well because their match at SummerSlam 2002 was one of the best I've ever seen.

 

[dxparza]

The attack in the parking lot was to write Shawn Michaels out of tv to have his back surgery.. No other reason than that. If my memory is correct, dx accepted Shawn back in that night, only to allow him to get jumped by the cooperation. I don't think they intended to plant those seeds of a feud between HBK and triple h. Shawn never planned to return to wrestle till 2002.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I agree with The Brain. WWF at this time was just bunching things together that made no sense, starting with Shawn Michaels even being in the Corporation. It made no sense as far as his character to be aligned with Vince McMahon and after about 3 months of the highjinks they decided to pull the plug on that, thankfully.

Then it just started to become more outrageous. Chyna joins. Kane joins. Etc Etc. It became the WWF's version of the nWo but notice, WWE never really speaks the truth about this over inflated group like it always tends to do against the nWo. Either way, the way they kept flip flopping Shawn Michaels' character was just real inconsistent. The only time they got it right was when he returned to active wrestling in 2002. But the stuff before then was just some thrown together things, quite like what they do now.

 

[thebarber]

agreed, the carpark flogging was simply the reason used to write Michaels off tv to have his back surgery. Remember he resurfaces at Mania 15 before the main event as the Commisioner in a face role, so that flows nicely into what happenedd, the Corporation setting HBK up to be taken down in the car park.
I think you are looking too much into it, with HBK returning on any level, it would ioncrease ratings. Playing off the friendship/rivalry was always going to put fans in two minds on what Mixchaels may do, but at the end of the day, he was not cleared to wrestle and HBK didnt get the urge to wrestle until 2002. And if you read his book, H BK states he only intended to return for ONE MORE MATCH and that was to be a streetfight against Vince himself. Vince is the one who said that if you can carry him to a realistic match, then he should do it with Hunter instead. The rest is history

 

[hlhbk]

After his retirement in 1998, Shawn Michaels would make occasional appearences on WWE TV sometimes as a comissioner, commentator or other special appearences.

Many of those are pretty forgetable including this moment: 4th of January, 1999. The same night Manking wins his first WWF Championship, Shawn Michaels gets bruttaly attacked in the parking lot by members of the Corporation. But there is a small hidden secret behind this attack.

Here are some facts:
-Triple H handed Shawn the wrong keys, which resulted in Shawn not being able to open his car.
-When HBK said "I'l be back", HHH replied "Maybe, maybe not".

Is it just me, or these small details hinted the start of the Triple H-HBK rivalry?
On top of that, Triple H would join the Corporation two months later, at Wrestlemania XV.

However, HBK returned at the very first episode of Smackdown, to be the guest referee for a WWF Championship match between HHH and The Rock. That night, Triple H cost The Rock the WWF Championship. The attack seems to be forgotten. HBK wouldn't return until May/June of 2000.

And the nonsense continues. In his second return, HBK announces that he, once again, will be the special guest referee for the 60-Minute Ironman match between The Rock and Triple H. Triple H then goes to say something along the lines of: "Shawn my friend, If you don't call this match the way it should be called, I can guarrantee you, you won't see the light of another day"
So, HBK is once again a face and creative hints a huge Triple H vs HBK feud to kick off for a second time. However, HBK calls the match down the middle and If it wasn't for The Undertaker causing a DQ, Rocky would have walked out Judgement Day, still WWF Champion.

Fast forward to 2002, the Triple H-HBK feud finally kicks off! During a DX reunion, Triple H pedigrees Shawn Michaels and the rest is history.

My point? Why did they have Shawn once as a face, then as a heel and then again as a face?
Was the Triple H vs HBK feud three years late? Why even bothering hinting, twice, If Shawn wasn't able to wreslte?

My theory? HBK told them that he would return to the ring in 1999. Then he saw that with Austin, Rock, Foley, Taker the spotlight wouldn't be on him. Back sugery suddently pops up out of nowhere, and HBK is gone for a year. And the reason of HBK superkicking The Rock? Who nows? Everybody wanted to see Rocky vs Shawn Michaels. WWF actually trolled the fans, twice.

What are your thoughts? What do you think was WWF's plan and what really happened?

Before I even respond to anything else are you actually saying you dno't think Shawn needed back surgery and he made it up in 99 since the spotlight wouldnt' be on him?

 

[SyndicateSaint]

There's something else of note about that. I have that particular Raw on tape and I watched it a moment ago. After HHH says, "..maybe not." You can hear X-Pac say, "What goes around comes around.". So if this was to set up HHH joining the Corporation, X-Pac would have to have been in on it too. I think it was a situation of Russo and his writing style. Maybe DX was going to make a heel turn? Maybe just HHH and X-Pac? Maybe it was going to be a revenge angle? Someone should bring that up to someone. In fact, I'm gonna go bug X-Pac on the Twittah machine and see if he shares any info on it....

 

[Swarles Barkley]

Shawn never planned to return to wrestle till 2002.

That's not entirely true. On one of the HBK DVDs, Triple H says that Michaels was supposed to return in 2001to do something at WrestleMania X-Seven but because he was such a pill head, they pulled the plug on his involvement. Too bad Michaels was such a tool at the time because I would have liked to see him be involved in the Invasion angle. HBK was the face of the WWF during the beginning of the Monday Night Wars, so it would have been neat to see him involved in the angle that finally saw WCW and the WWF square off.

 

[KingOfKings249]

I agree with The Brain. WWF at this time was just bunching things together that made no sense, starting with Shawn Michaels even being in the Corporation. It made no sense as far as his character to be aligned with Vince McMahon and after about 3 months of the highjinks they decided to pull the plug on that, thankfully.

Then it just started to become more outrageous. Chyna joins. Kane joins. Etc Etc. It became the WWF's version of the nWo but notice, WWE never really speaks the truth about this over inflated group like it always tends to do against the nWo. Either way, the way they kept flip flopping Shawn Michaels' character was just real inconsistent. The only time they got it right was when he returned to active wrestling in 2002. But the stuff before then was just some thrown together things, quite like what they do now.

I only agree on HBK not being a fit in the group. The way it was explained, Chyna and Kane but had reasons for being in the group and you can't compare it to the NWO if you only didn't understand three people joining compared to half a roster joining the NWO

 

[KingOfKings249]

That's not entirely true. On one of the HBK DVDs, Triple H says that Michaels was supposed to return in 2001to do something at WrestleMania X-Seven but because he was such a pill head, they pulled the plug on his involvement. Too bad Michaels was such a tool at the time because I would have liked to see him be involved in the Invasion angle. HBK was the face of the WWF during the beginning of the Monday Night Wars, so it would have been neat to see him involved in the angle that finally saw WCW and the WWF square off.

no, Shawn was retired until 2002, he asked the doctors that year since he had more of prominent role then he did post late 99

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Before I even respond to anything else are you actually saying you dno't think Shawn needed back surgery and he made it up in 99 since the spotlight wouldnt' be on him?

I'm not saying he didn't need a back surgery. I'm saying, why put him in so big angles if he wasn't going to wrestle? The entire thing seemed pointless and had no result whatsoever.

 

[PDepew2181]

no, Shawn was retired until 2002, he asked the doctors that year since he had more of prominent role then he did post late 99

No, Swarles Barkley is right, at least partially. Just put on the chapter from the Heartbreak & Triumph DVD entitled "Rock Bottom." They talk about him being very erratic in late '97 and early '98 leading up to WrestleMania XIV, culminating with the match against Austin. They depict him as being quite pissed that he had to lose because of the injury and simply because he didn't want to lose. He mentions himself that he did a ton of pills of drugs, which carried into his marriage and the birth of his son.

Triple H says that the breaking point was the night that Nitro ended. Trips says that they were in Vince's office watching the end of Nitro when Shane came out. In walked Shawn "pilled out of his mind, stumbling all over the place and half drooling on himself." According to Triple H, Undertaker was there to witness it and got extremely pissed off. (Note: If you believe Bret Hart's book, Taker told Bret several times he didn't trust or believe in Shawn.) Triple H said they were going to do "something" with Shawn, he doesn't say if it was a storyline or if it was going to involve wrestling, but that when Vince heard about Shawn's condition, he called it off and essentially told Shawn to get lost. Probably explains why he was completely absent from his guest ref stint during the Rock/Triple H Iron Man match until he came back to join the nWo in 2002.

Triple H concluded the story by saying that Shawn, after being sent away by Vince, came into the locker room and proceeded to rip Triple H for not sticking up for him, then stormed out. This led to Shawn and Triple H not speaking for over a year.

So whether or not Shawn would have wrestled in 2001 is hard to say, but he was definitely gone from TV longer than originally planned.

 

[relentless1]

the reason HHH said "maybe, maybe not" and xpac said "what goes around comes around " was because HBK was with the corporation at first and screwed over DX then he turned face but DX didnt forget how he treated them so thats the story behind the payback

 

[relentless1]

and the HBK HHH feud started the night after WM 14 really with HHHs speech about how shawn dropped the ball

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Not any inside information, but it seemed with the way Shawn was used in late 98 and early 99 there was some sort of plan of him returning. He was gone for a good 6 months after Mania XIV to rest and heal up. So he comes back and is featured prominately on tv in late 98 and early 99. I would have to think there was some sort of plan for his return, which was probably put on hold after he got the news that his back was not fit for a return. Because at some point in the spring of 99 they wrote him off and from that point he never had as prominate a role as he did in late 98-early 99.

 

[nbda1997]

Is it just me, or these small details hinted the start of the Triple H-HBK rivalry?

Actually, they were planning to start the HHH/HBK feud shortly after that, however, HBK was still having substance abuse & injury problems at the time, so they ended up shelving it until the early 2000s when HBK was back in ring-shape.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

I doubt the WWF even knew where they were going back then. Things seemed to change on a whim on a week by week basis. Back then it was all about lame swerves to pop a high rating for Raw regardless of how it affected anything down the road. Instead of storylines being planned out ahead of time and using the tv show to get to that goal, the tv shows seemed thrown together every week and the storylines were adjusted accordingly.

They were probably hoping to do something with HBK and HHH in early 1999. There were a couple times between 1998 and 2002 that Shawn was expected to come back but whether it was injuries or drug problems there was always something that prevented it. When he finally did come back in 2002 he jumped right into the feud with HHH and you could just tell it was something they had thought about doing for years. It worked out pretty well because their match at SummerSlam 2002 was one of the best I've ever seen.

This post is pretty spot on I think. Post WM14, HBK's career was pretty much an unknown as far as wrestling again throughout 98 & part of 99. I think WWE was hoping for a HBK/HHH in ring feud for WM15 but when HBK decided to go ahead with the back surgery & semi-retire, it was put on the back burner. The whole superkick to the Rock on Smackdown, I don't think it was intended to set up a in ring feud between HBK & Rock. I think Shawn was just supposed to be a heel commish to aid the "new" heel owner Shane since Vince had "lost control" at Fully Loaded but from what I remember reading on WZ all those many years ago, there was some huge backstage blowup involving HBK getting pissed with Austin not wanting to put over HHH, then The Rock I guess took Austins side saying something to the effect of "I'd break his back." My memory is foggy as it's been a long time but basically, Shawn's jacked up back & piss poor attitude made doing any kind of business with him unbearable and the difference between dealing with Shawn in 1997-early98 & 1999-2001 is that in 97-early98, HBK was very much needed on the roster so they'd put up with his issues where as in 99-01, he wasn't.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

A lot of this would also have to do with his conduct prior to his World title. Shawn had been notorious for not wanting to drop titles and causing problems with putting people over, even at IC level. He buried Tatanka famously, costing him his shot with the strap and things didn't improve as his push increased.

By 98 the time had come for him to not only put people like Austin over but to do so "for the good of the company" and the injury gave him that out. Come 99, his attitude had only worsened and there were legit guys who could not only outshine Shawn in the ring but were also making the right moves backstage to make Vince believe in them more than Shawn. Why would he risk a big spot on an out of control Shawn over one of these newer talents who were getting over so huge?