Shawn Michaels and 1997

[justtxyank]

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.

WCW had a toxic environment at the end to be sure, but the meme that WCW was where the inmates rant he asylum while the WWF was professional is total garbage. It's only been perpetuated that way to this day because Vince won the war and if you hope to make a lot of money in the business you need to work for him. That lets him control the story.

In the WWF, Nash, Hall, HHH, HBK, Waltman and the forgotten member of the group, Justin Credible, were involved in a lot of horrible things backstage and treated people like garbage. Drugs were running rampant in those lockerooms, women were getting harassed, people were getting assaulted and harassed...it was not some up and up company. Hell, Davey Boy Smith was legit worried that Bret Hart was going to get murdered in the lockerroom!

Now while a lot of stuff went on in WCW with regards to people being selfish, Bischoff deserves a smidge of credit (not much) for the fact that he did try to control Nash, Hall and Syxx at various points. He fired Waltman for his antics and to send a message to Hall and Nash. He suspended Hall multiple times. Discipline fell on guys like Arn Anderson, Vader, Orndorff, Sid, etc. for backstage issues.

Wrestling in the 90s was full of bad apples. Very few, if any, of those guys could survive in the real world if they had to get real jobs.

 

[thebromm]

The thing you need to remember about Shawn Michaels in 1997 is that he was just flat out not a very good man. He, at least to an extent, used everybody. He was hard into drugs. He was badly banged up. And Vince, at least in my opinion, probably thought "well, I'll use him when I can use him." In other words, Vince was aware of the issues with Shawn, and decided he'd rather use him when he was able to use him rather then never use him at all. You need not forget, 1997 and Shawn Michaels was the birth of the Attitude Era in the WWF. He was very instrumental, along with the usual suspects, in ushering in this era. It was important to Vince for him to be there whenever possible.

The other thing is, he more than likely, dictated when he'd work. He was a real in those days.

Now with that said, I need to tell you that Shawn Michaels is my all-time favorite wrestler. I'm glad that he was able to overcome his demons, come back to the WWE, give us 8 years of 5 star quality matches, and end his career befiting of arguably the greatest in-ring performer ever.

 

[HBKperfect23]

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.

As far as USA/CAN stuff. Yes, Shawn was in the center of that.

"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".

Take a look at the match again.

 

[theHeadliner]

I'm not denying the back injury, but I'm saying maybe the knee injury was more legit than people thought or that Michaels lead on after he came back from it.

 

[thebarber]

Shawn was supposed to drop the belt to Sid at Thursday Raw Thursday, then put over Hart at Mania 13, thus why he walked away and "lost his smile"
The knee injury was a rouse, 15 years on we know this. HBK was a scumbag in those days,. and he freely admits this.

 

[Moneyinc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9AzgP9wabg


Classic stuff from a serious legend. Love the end of the interview where he says he needs to go back, and find his smile.

 

[theHeadliner]

Shawn was supposed to drop the belt to Sid at Thursday Raw Thursday, then put over Hart at Mania 13, thus why he walked away and "lost his smile"
The knee injury was a rouse, 15 years on we know this. HBK was a scumbag in those days,. and he freely admits this.

His knee was hurt, Dr. Andrews confirmed that. The seriousness of the injury and the fact that if he wanted to, Shawn could have worked that night against Sid and saved himself for WM13 against the Hitman if he wanted. He used his knee as the excuse not to work.

 

[Just Do It]

Nondoy will eber know for sure what went down. I understand Bret's argument, understands Shawn's also. The backflip off the top rope is the thing that makes debate here.

 

[theHeadliner]

Nondoy will eber know for sure what went down. I understand Bret's argument, understands Shawn's also. The backflip off the top rope is the thing that makes debate here.

Michaels said he would do stuff like that on purpose to rub it in the faces of people who trashed him behind his back. He said that in his book and in the 1999/2000 shoot interview.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Late 1996 and 1997 is such an interesting time for me as a wrestling fan. Basically, from Bret's return at Survivor Series 1996 until the screwjob at Survivor Series 1997... The WWF had such a weird, cool, interesting vibe that was clearly evolving into the Attitude era.

Especially right around December 96 (IYH: It's Time) and January 97 (Royal Rumble).

Sid was a heel. He was champ. He was booked as a heel. Yet he got pops like a face.
Bret Hart returns as a face. He was booked as a face. But he acted like a heel.
Austin was a heel. He was booked as a heel. Yet he got pops like a face.
Michaels was bitter that Hart was back. He was booked as a face. But he acted like a heel.

Their top 4 guys (excluding 'Taker) were all tweeners. Booked traditionally as heels and faces but actually performed like tweeners. Obviously, some real life tension played a role here between Shawn and Bret, which made it all the more realistic and edgy. It seemed like no one had control during this time. But I love watching old videos from this time period as you can actually see the product transition from kid-friendly white meat babyfaces into the Attitude era.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Late 1996 and 1997 is such an interesting time for me as a wrestling fan. Basically, from Bret's return at Survivor Series 1996 until the screwjob at Survivor Series 1997... The WWF had such a weird, cool, interesting vibe that was clearly evolving into the Attitude era.

Especially right around December 96 (IYH: It's Time) and January 97 (Royal Rumble).

Sid was a heel. He was champ. He was booked as a heel. Yet he got pops like a face.
Bret Hart returns as a face. He was booked as a face. But he acted like a heel.
Austin was a heel. He was booked as a heel. Yet he got pops like a face.
Michaels was bitter that Hart was back. He was booked as a face. But he acted like a heel.

Their top 4 guys (excluding 'Taker) were all tweeners. Booked traditionally as heels and faces but actually performed like tweeners. Obviously, some real life tension played a role here between Shawn and Bret, which made it all the more realistic and edgy. It seemed like no one had control during this time. But I love watching old videos from this time period as you can actually see the product transition from kid-friendly white meat babyfaces into the Attitude era.

Completely agree with everything you just said. 97 is such an interesting year because it was a transition year but unlike other transition years (2002 and 2005) it wasn't considered a transition year at the time like the other years were. While I was more into WCW at the time I still kept tabs on WWF as it was the WWF that got me into wrestling in the 1st place. But boy do I wish I paid more attention to the WWF in 97. I can relieve most of it with dvd releases and online videos but its not the same as watching it live.