Shawn Michaels and 1997

[theHeadliner]

I was going through WWF results from 1997 that included every house show, TV taping, and PPV. Michaels was off the road so much during that year. He first took time off from losing his smile in February thru his return May 26.

He returned for a week and left again on June 8 when he and Bret got in the backstage fight. He didn't return to the ring again until the end of August, and only worked one or two matches that whole month. After that, he didn't wrestle again until Ground Zero on September 7th, and didn't wrestle again until One Night Only in England. He was kept out of action again until Bad Blood. His next match was October 20th against Owen Hart on RAW.

Michaels went on to only work one match between Oct. 20th and Survivor Series and the Screwjob. Even after he won the belt he didn't work every house show and TV taping, which was usually unheard of for the WWF champ in those days.

I guess my point is maybe there was some legitimacy to Shawn's injuries, because he was arguably one of their top 3 or 4 stars in terms of drawing and in Vince's eyes, and he barely worked any house shows or TV tapings that whole year while being paid in full. Does anyone else have opinions why he would be kept off the road so much while being one of their top draws?

 

[SinCityBlitz]

It was part injuries and also part drugs. He was in bad shape at that time. VERY bad shape. Not only did the injuries catch up to him but the drugs made it just about impossible to work with him. Plus his shitty attitude didn't help things either.

He was very lucky that he had someone to help set him straight because we would have been looking at Scott Hall part two if he didn't.

 

[theHeadliner]

It was part injuries and also part drugs. He was in bad shape at that time. VERY bad shape. Not only did the injuries catch up to him but the drugs made it just about impossible to work with him. Plus his shitty attitude didn't help things either.

He was very lucky that he had someone to help set him straight because we would have been looking at Scott Hall part two if he didn't.

I hear that. I know he had bad drug problems, if you read Bret's book he tells of times Michaels needed to be helped out of restaurants and bars because he was too pilled up. I just can't believe that Vince would allow him to behave and act like that, miss all that time in the ring, and STILL pay him in full. He was a top draw for Vince and possibly his personal favorite at that time.

 

[uvx]

He was kept at the top whilst not being there because he was one of the best if not the best they had at working inside the ring. He was also one of their main draws and Stone Cold was still being built for the main event so someone had to have the belt.

 

[RJJ]

It's a combination of things. First thing, just like you said, he was pretty banged up. Second thing, I believe at that time he was drowning in addiction(Drugs). Third, his ego wouldn't allow him to work a house show or TV(I remember him saying something like on one of his promos). Plus, He was a transitional champion, he knew it and I everybody else did, his job was to pass the torch to Austin. He simply got no business winning the title(Bret situation aside), let alone holding it for that long.

As far as the back injury, I don't believe it was THAT(career ending) serious. Especially after seeing all those crazy bumps he took during his second run.

I believe what happened was, shawn couldn't stand the fact that he was no longer the number 1 man in the company.

....just my opinion.

 

[theHeadliner]

It's a combination of things. First thing, just like you said, he was pretty banged up. Second thing, I believe at that time he was drowning in addiction(Drugs). Third, his ego wouldn't allow him to work a house show or TV(I remember him saying something like on one of his promos). Plus, He was a transitional champion, he knew it and I everybody else did, his job was to pass the torch to Austin. He simply got no business winning the title(Bret situation aside), let alone holding it for that long.

As far as the back injury, I don't believe it was THAT(career ending) serious. Especially after seeing all those crazy bumps he took during his second run.

I believe what happened was, shawn couldn't stand the fact that he was no longer the number 1 man in the company.

....just my opinion.

I totally agree that his ego was bashed knowing he was transitional champ, but it was before that too. He had a ton of time off from losing his smile to Survivor Series though, and his knee couldn't have had everything to do with missing that much time. Even though he might have felt he was above house shows and such, there's no way Vince would just go along with that. House shows did a lot to make up for the losses in other business areas to WCW.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Plus, He was a transitional champion, he knew it and I everybody else did, his job was to pass the torch to Austin. He simply got no business winning the title(Bret situation aside), let alone holding it for that long.

The whole time it was planned for Micheals to drop the title to Austin. He knews going into that run he was transitional. Problems with Shawn backstage heated up after the back injury because he knew he wouldnt wrestle ever again (so he thought).

As far as the back injury, I don't believe it was THAT(career ending) serious. Especially after seeing all those crazy bumps he took during his second run

False. Look at the pain in his eyes. You could see how serious the injury was. Austin has went on record saying how bad he thought Shawns back was.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I think a lot of the reason Shawn got away with his backstage stuff is because of how good he was at the time. Ill put Shawn in 97 up against any wrestler at any time frame.....he was untouchable. Everything he did that year turned to gold. He was amazing in the ring. Plus, Vince knew he had to get rid of Bret, Austin wasnt there yet, and Vince knew he needed Shawn on the roster.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I think he was off so much in 1997 for a combination of reasons. Personal & emotional problems, addiction, physical injury, problems with Bret, politics backstage, etc.

& while he was a top draw & it was unregular for him to miss so much, weren't Bret & Shawn the first champions to work house shows? Hogan, Warrior, etc. were all treated like 'mega stars' as champion. While it was becoming more common for the champion to be at house shows in the mid-90's, it wasn't like it is now with 2 World Titles & a minimum of one World Championship match at every WWE event.

 

[RJJ]

I totally agree that his ego was bashed knowing he was transitional champ, but it was before that too. He had a ton of time off from losing his smile to Survivor Series though, and his knee couldn't have had everything to do with missing that much time. Even though he might have felt he was above house shows and such, there's no way Vince would just go along with that. House shows did a lot to make up for the losses in other business areas to WCW.

First things first, you gotta understand we're talking about 90's michaels here, the same guy who refused to"lay down to anybody", the same guy who ran the company along with his cliq, the same guy who wrote shows, and the same exact guy who treated vince like a ***** and took shit from no one, and that's a well known fact by the way. Shawn did what he wanted to do, whether vince liked it or not.

 

[RJJ]

I think a lot of the reason Shawn got away with his backstage stuff is because of how good he was at the time. Ill put Shawn in 97 up against any wrestler at any time frame.....he was untouchable. Everything he did that year turned to gold. He was amazing in the ring. Plus, Vince knew he had to get rid of Bret, Austin wasnt there yet, and Vince knew he needed Shawn on the roster.

He had his moments, but not everything was gold. If I remember correctly, they's got nothing going for him coming back-formation of DX, he was lost and overshadowed by all the insanity that was going on between the hart foundation and Austin. And sometimes he get randomly thrown into their program(wondering how?) just to keep him in the spotlight.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

The whole time it was planned for Micheals to drop the title to Austin. He knews going into that run he was transitional. Problems with Shawn backstage heated up after the back injury because he knew he wouldnt wrestle ever again (so he thought).



False. Look at the pain in his eyes. You could see how serious the injury was. Austin has went on record saying how bad he thought Shawns back was.

Every wrestling champion is a transitional champion. It's the way the "sport" works. As soon as someone wins the title it's off to look for the next champion.

Shawn had 2 herniated discs and a crushed one. I fail to see how a crushed disc is not that serious.

 

[HBsam31]

I agree with what everyone has said about the drug addiction, and also the nagging injuries. It obvious that Shawn was more valuable that what people at times give him credit for because I don't know too many bosses that would put up with that kind of drug addiction. He himself has admitted being impossible to be around. Now on to the back injury. My father has had back problems for the better part of my adult life, and it is no joke. His back problems were minor, and there were days he could not stand for more than five minutes at a time. Shawn's injury was a major one. As SinCityBlitz said he had two herniated discs and a crushed one. I just can't see how that could be labeled as not that serious. I am a huge HBK fan, and am biased, but you can see the pain in his face in his Mania match vs Austin. I am just glad he got it together because by what I have read and heard if he would have kept going he may have been another wrestling casualty.

 

[HBKperfect23]

He had his moments, but not everything was gold. If I remember correctly, they's got nothing going for him coming back-formation of DX, he was lost and overshadowed by all the insanity that was going on between the hart foundation and Austin. And sometimes he get randomly thrown into their program(wondering how?) just to keep him in the spotlight.

Not sure what you mean by "theys got nothing going for him" but if that translates to creative has nothing for him, I find that hilarious. Nothing for Shawn Michaels?

He was in the center of the program with the Harts and Austin. How is Hart/HBK ever a random program? Please tell me something you didnt like that Shawn was in during 1997.

Also I find it amazing when people claim he was faking his back injury or that it wasnt that serious.

 

[peter_midnight]

He was Vince's boy toy plain and simple.

Sources: Road Warrior Hawk, Bret Hart, Honky Tonk Man and Shawn kissing Vince on the lips on Raw during his "knee injury"

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I hear that. I know he had bad drug problems, if you read Bret's book he tells of times Michaels needed to be helped out of restaurants and bars because he was too pilled up. I just can't believe that Vince would allow him to behave and act like that, miss all that time in the ring, and STILL pay him in full. He was a top draw for Vince and possibly his personal favorite at that time.

Well yeah, Vince absolutely loved the guy, and overlooked so much when it came to Shawn back then.

I think at least part of that though, is that he was deathly afraid of what would happen if he didn't bend to every one of Shawn's whims, and Shawn would have left him for WCW and the NWO. You gotta remember that the NWO was killing him at the time, and the thought was that them getting Michaels would have been the final nail in the coffin.

He had something in Austin at the time, but I don't think he realized exactly what he had yet. He didn't realize what he had in the Rock. He just didn't know that he already had the weapons to win the war with WCW, and he was so scared of WCW getting their own WMD that he just let Shawn get away with whatever... even if it included only using him for TV.

 

[RJJ]

Not sure what you mean by "theys got nothing going for him" but if that translates to creative has nothing for him, I find that hilarious. Nothing for Shawn Michaels?

He was in the center of the program with the Harts and Austin. How is Hart/HBK ever a random program? Please tell me something you didnt like that Shawn was in during 1997.

Also I find it amazing when people claim he was faking his back injury or that it wasnt that serious.

typo. I think you explained it well.

You're crazy if you think that michael was the center of Harts/Austin. Plus, I didn't say that the program was random, I said michaels was thrown randomly into their program. He looked completly out of place.

Like I said, I don't deny the seriuosness of that injury, but I don't think it was THAT serious, which means to the point where he had to retire. HHH(Armageddon 2000), Austin(KOTR 2001), and Taker suffered the exact same injury I believe.


"you can see the pain in his face in his Mania match vs Austin."

...That same look that I saw when he "lost his smile".

 

[Bone For Tuna]

I think at least part of that though, is that he was deathly afraid of what would happen if he didn't bend to every one of Shawn's whims, and Shawn would have left him for WCW and the NWO. You gotta remember that the NWO was killing him at the time, and the thought was that them getting Michaels would have been the final nail in the coffin.

I would say that this is probably the biggest reason why Michaels got away with a lot of stuff he did. Once Hall and Nash jumped ship and WCW were destroying the WWF, Michaels basically had Vince by the grapefruits. What's the worst possible scenario for him deciding to be a total asshole? He gets jobbed out, fired and then immediately goes to WCW where he would have probably been paid way more than he was making and basically he could have done whatever the hell he wanted to do there too because let's face it, it's WCW where the inmates run the asylum. I could deal with that. Even if Vince had jobbed him out, people would have still tuned in to see him on Nitro. Wrestling as a whole was just that hot and the Monday Night Wars was something nobody had or will see again. I'm talking out my ass when I say this, but I think the wrestlers probably had way more of an advantage during that time period when it came to contract negotiations and things like that then the current batch of superstars of today do. The bigger names anyway, and yeah a guy like Michaels in '97 could have been the final nail in the coffin fo sho. I wouldn't blame a wrestler for jumping ship in exchange for more money and an easier schedual. What makes HBK a cunt though, is how unprofessional and disrespectful he was back in the day and I guess drugs will do that, but you would have to be a pretty self centered douche to be the face of the company and not give a shit.

 

[Wald]

Never believed the Vince and Shawn rumours that circulated at the time, I always put it down to Vince being deathly afraid that Shawn in WCW would mean the end for him. Given his drug problems I'm not so sure it would have (look at how burnt out Hall was by 1998), but Michaels, Nash and Hall all on Nitro ripping him and the WWF apart would have been a massive blow to him and I can see why Michaels was given some leeway.

That said, HBK clearly took advantage and Vince left it go too far. Michaels could have killed someone out there and his promos at times were all over the place in 1997. I remember one the week after HHH beat Bret by countout where HBK kept going on about Triple H getting the three count on Bret and everyone just kinda looked a bit embarrassed.

As for stacking Shawn's 1997 up against any other wrestler, please do bring that to the table because Shawn has only a few highlights due to injuries. Here;s his PPV schedule, considering he didn't do house shows or wrestle on Raw much that year this is basically everything he did.

Royal Rumble vs Psycho Sid (good match but nothing special about it)
King of the Ring vs Steve Austin (good match, not a 5 star classic though)
Ground Zero vs Undertaker (decent match that was just a set up for the next PPV)
Bad Blood vs Undertaker (genuine 5 star classic)
Survivor Series vs Bret (was looking good but this can't even be counted as a full match)
Degeneration X PPV vs Ken Shamrock (so-so match, nothing to it really)

So I genuinely fail to see how that stacks up to Ric Flair's 1989 (which is the best year for any wrestler ever) or a host of other wrestler's years

 

[HBKperfect23]

Here;s his PPV schedule, considering he didn't do house shows or wrestle on Raw much that year this is basically everything he did.

Watch RAW a little closer. If you take the pink shades off, maybe you will see as some great matches with Owen, Mick, teaming with Steve against Owen/Bulldog and LOD, teaming with Hunter against LOD.

I remember one the week after HHH beat Bret by countout where HBK kept going on about Triple H getting the three count on Bret and everyone just kinda looked a bit embarrassed.

Not even sure what this means. Arent you supposed to talk bad about the guy your feuding with?

So I genuinely fail to see how that stacks up to Ric Flair's 1989 (which is the best year for any wrestler ever) or a host of other wrestler's years

You can make an arugment for Flair in 89. Even for Savage in 92. When your talking about all time best a matter of opinion certainly comes in. Im not talking about the quanity of matches more so then im talking about how good he actually was. Flair went on record saying he knew in 97 Shawn had surpassed him.

 

[WunNightStan619]

I think a lot of the reason Shawn got away with his backstage stuff is because of how good he was at the time. Ill put Shawn in 97 up against any wrestler at any time frame.....he was untouchable. Everything he did that year turned to gold. He was amazing in the ring. Plus, Vince knew he had to get rid of Bret, Austin wasnt there yet, and Vince knew he needed Shawn on the roster.

Basically...

 

[Wald]

All of those Raw matches are average to good. Quite simply, you cannot say a guy who was sidelined for a large chunk of the year was the best anything.

The promo I highlighted shows that the guy couldn't even remember what happened the week before on Raw. He went on about Bret getting pinned by Triple H when it never happened.

And Flair would say ICP where the greatest tag team of all time if he thought he could get something out of it. He's a rent a quote who sucks up to anyone he thinks has any stroke in a place he can make some money.

 

[theHeadliner]

I was speaking of the knee injury that caused the losing of the smile and kept him out from February to the end of May. Maybe there was more to that because he missed a ton of time even after he came back in May. Then the back injury happened. Also, maybe Shawn's loyalty in not following the rest of the Clique to WCW made Vince give him more freedom to be a dick and do whatever the hell he wanted.

 

[theHeadliner]

Shawn was off the road a lot in 1994, 1995, and 1997. 1994 they took him off the road after the ladder match. Then shortly after he returned he broke his hand and missed more time. In 1995 they took him off the road after Sid "injured" him after WM11. Then he was taken off the road again when he got his ass kicked in Syracuse (an hour away from my hometown, I had tickets to the show the next day in Utica when he couldn't work as a result of the fight), and missed time again for the "concussion" angle at the end of 1995, early 1996. Then missed a bunch of time in 1997. So he was off a lot for being at top guy.

 

[RJJ]

Shawn was off the road a lot in 1994, 1995, and 1997. 1994 they took him off the road after the ladder match. Then shortly after he returned he broke his hand and missed more time. In 1995 they took him off the road after Sid "injured" him after WM11. Then he was taken off the road again when he got his ass kicked in Syracuse (an hour away from my hometown, I had tickets to the show the next day in Utica when he couldn't work as a result of the fight), and missed time again for the "concussion" angle at the end of 1995, early 1996. Then missed a bunch of time in 1997. So he was off a lot for being at top guy.

You add the number of times where he faked an injury(just to get away from dropping a belt), and you get your answer.....What a waste. Imagine if if 90's shawn had the same mentality that today's shawn has. He wasted his prime on some BS.