Rise and Fall: Shawn Michaels

[WWE.IS.AWESOME]

This is the first part in my thread series, Rise and Fall. The point is to name the best/most important/greatest moment in the selected superstars career and then name the worst/pointless/rock bottom moment of said superstar's career.

The first wrestler I have chosen is...

Shawn Michaels. If you are a true wrestling fan, you have probably heard of Shawn Michaels. Known as The Showstopper, Mr.Wrestlemania, The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels has made history in the WWE. My question to you, is What was Shawn's greatest moment in his career?

Like every wrestler though, Shawn has had some tough times during his career. My second question for you, is When did Shawn hit rock bottom during his time in the WWE?

Discuss.

 

[FutureChamp328]

His highs are too numerous to mention. I would say any of his innovative matches like the Wrestlemania X Ladder match vs Razor Ramon, vs Undertaker in the first Hell in a Cell, and the first Elimination Chamber. There's also just the fact that whenever he was with WWE whether on the mid-card, main event or even as one of the Rockers Shawn worked his ass off and it showed he was always the best. I mean look at all the classic matches he has had: HBK vs Taker 1 and 2, vs Triple H, vs Chris Jericho, vs Flair, hell he had a nice little program with Mr. Kennedy (excuse me Anderson) in late 2007 where Shawn put him over.

As for the low I would say the point after his back injury when he was sort of on again off again with the company that his drug abuse and drinking got so bad that Vince fired him and he blamed Triple H and went on not to speak to him for a year.

The best part of that though was that he came out of it better for it, he got clean came back and had a second career which was just as good if not better than his first. I mean come on his last match at the age of about 45 against the Undertaker was easily the best we have seen in a long time and it had to live up to the clinic the put on at Wrestlemania 25. So all in all HBK = the best ever even when he had his personal problems.

 

[afark02]

high was when he was healthy and able to wrestle, this guy was just incredible in the rind.

low has to be his injury. speaking for someone who has had back surgery, it is simply amazing for shawn to have been able to come back and wrestle for nearly 8 years after he had came back from a serious back injury. when you crush a disc in your back, like shawn did, you are barely able to walk let alone wrestle. and the fusion surgery shawn had pretty much makes you limber as a robot but he defied the odds and came back to about 90 percent what he used to be. simply amazing.

 

[IAmDoogie]

I don't believe Michaels has a notable 'low' in his career. Like someone mentioned before, sure he's had major surgeries, but that for the most part never hindered him in the ring. the only real "lows" all have to do with things that really didnt involve the business itself. you could say being in on the "screw job" incident would be his lowest point, but in the long run even that didn't hurt his career. Michaels came in and quickly got to the top, and i believe he stayed there right on thru his retirement.

 

[Simmo]

For me his high's were any time he main evented Wrestlemania - he wasn't called Mr Wrestlemania for nothing, just new how to step it up for the big one...

And for the low point, I am going to have to go with the Montreal Screwjob - sure he came out of it with the title, but just has always made me think a bit less of him given his involvement (just my opinion)

 

[roethlisberger78]

With so many highs its hard to name just one, I mean you can talk ladder matches, you can say hell in a cell, you can claim the rumble, for me his high moment came when he threw Marty Jennety through the barbershop window and it was the start of his singles career and a wonderful one at that, and also high moments came in defet two years running, both losses to the Undertaker but quite possible both are able to be mentioned in best matches ever, both had you sitting on the edge of your seats with many near falls, you couldnt ask for more in a match and they both delivered it.

On to his low moment I want to move away from his back injurery I've seen many post on that, I think his low was the Kliq, now I by no means am saying the Kliq was a bad thing but to me it was some of his lowest moments, after he left the Kliq you just seemed to get so many more great moments like his heart was all the way in the bussiness.

 

[TakerDakSide]

High: Being WWE Champion @ WM12 to be at the top of the mountain. Also the rise from the low that's mentioned below allowed him to find God & resume normal activity in a few years

Low: Getting into his drugs issues epecially in the dawning of the Attitude Era + having to suffer back injuries.

 

[Cookie14]

Shawn Michaels High point for me has to be...... Dare I say it...... The Montreal Screw Job. Have three seconds ever increased someones profile in wrestling as much as this did for Shawn? I don't think so!!

His lowest point? Might seem like a strange choice, but I would choose his time as a mentor to Jeff Hardy. His current problems show that Shawn's influence clearly had no impact on him, which is a shame because he could have been the HBK of this generation

 

[laddclan]

High: Splitting up The Rockers on The Barbershop. It was nothing but entertainment from that point on.

Low: In his wrestling career? He had none in the ring. He didn't get stuck with any lame matches or mind-numbing feuds. It would be outside of the ring that was the low points for Shawn, for the fans he gave nothing but 110% every night.

 

[Richie Cult]

I am not trying to disturb anybody, but I believe Shawn Michaels slept his way to the top, and unfortunately, I believe it was with Vince McMahon first, then Pat Patterson. It may have been only once, but...
I think Vince is mostly straight, but he has done a few things in the 30 years of me watching pro wrestling that have made me wonder if he is slightly bi-sexual.
Pat Patterson is openly gay, a close friend to Vince, and was one of the few to have Vince's ear.
Before people jump down my throat about such a heinous allegation, I just want to say these things:
1) Vince McMahon (the son) has always loved large, muscular, wrestlers, especially as champions: Hogan, Andre, Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage (until the incident with Stephanie), Sgt. Slaughter, etc.
2) Vince always made the smaller wrestlers, like Shawn, mid-carders at best.
3) Just before Shawn became champion, I heard and watched many interviews in which wrestlers were saying that champions were "sleeping" their way to the top at the WWE. No names were mentioned, out of either respect for privacy or fear of slander lawsuits, but didn't think they were referring to the lame women's division at the time and the wrestler's gave the impression it was male on male. At this time, the last few Heavyweight champions were Bret Hart, Kevin Nash, Bob Backlund, Yokozuna, and Hulk Hogan, but Shawn was getting a huge heel push, first with the I-C title.
4) I could not fathom Pat Patterson wanting to sleep with Yokozuna and Yokozuna's size (and Kevin Nash's) were impressive enough to not require "special favors" to be champion, but I kept wondering who these wrestlers were talking about.
5) As soon as Shawn became Heavyweight Champion, which shocked me, I thought, "Oh my goodness! It was Shawn!"
6) They paid Shawn very well for his favor(s) to Pat and Vince, provided him mainstream attention with a huge push, brought celebrity women in (like Pamela Anderson) to help Shawn cope with his shame. Shawn began abusing drugs during this time to help deal with the shame and confusion.
7) Shawn began having sex with as many hot women as possible to try to separate his experience with Pat Patterson from who he really is, a heterosexual.
8) Years later, Shawn "finds God", marries a beautiful woman (Ex-Nitro Girl Whisper), raises a family and sometimes talks about the "hard road" he made to get to the top, but leaves out certain parts (understandably so).
9) This also weighed on his mind during the "Montreal Screwjob". Shawn knew that there were tough sacrifices that needed to be made in the wrestling business and he busted his ass, (well, with the help of Pat Patterson) to rise to the top.
10) Pat & Vince knew that they asked a lot of Shawn before his big push, so out of respect to Shawn, they never mention that night again and of course, would never ask for a repeat performance from "The Sexy Boy".

Everything above is just a theory based on everything I read between the lines of what was happening, or reportedly happening, during that period in time. I have NO inside information to corroborate my story, but I believe it!

 

[Hitman-HBK United Inc.]

HIGH: 1996, the performanes he put on that year IMO overshadows the fact that WCW took over in the ratings. While the nWo may have been the best angle that year, Shawn was no doubt the best performer in the world at this point, and was having 4-star matches with everyone and anyone, heck, even Sid.

LOW: 1998, when his career abruptly ended (By 2000, I gave up all hope of him ever stepping in the ring again. One of the very few times I'll gladly admit I was wrong).

 

[S.J. Maximus]

It's almost crystal clear that Shawn Michaels' highest high was when the 'boyhood dream' came true at WrestleMania 12 after the hour-long Ironman match.

I'm going to vote Shawn Michaels' retirement as his lowest low. It's so hard to find a low point in the career of one of the most legendary stars of all-time, a man who hasn't even wrestled a bad match since 1990. However, I'm going to attack Shawn's decison to have the Undertaker attack him rather than having someone who could've seriously benefited from the opportunity do it. The legends are supposed to pass the torch to the next generation right? Then why did Shawn Michaels pass his to someone equal his age and arguably even more popular than he was? I'm not saying he should've lost to primo or like joe hennig, but at least a younger established star like Sheamus, Orton, Morrison, Del Rio even or Sheamus

 

[The Idiot]

High: No surprise here. Winning his first world title in the main event of Wrestlemania. Can't really ask for more than that. He was officially a main eventer.

Low: Heard a story about Shawn in the WWE locker room during the night McMahon bought WCW. This was right before he became a born again Christian. From what I understand him and Hunter got into it after Shawn walked into the locker room stumbling around high on pills and slurring his words. The Undertaker was extremely pissed off. This might of been mentioned in his documentary, can't remember. That to me is the low point in his career....not the Montreal screwjob like others have said. That's Bret's lowest point, lol.