The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Series [4]: Shawn Michaels

[Calderownz]

This one should be pretty interesting. Lol. Nonetheless, I'll start us off.

THE GOOD:
Great in-ring performer. Thrived for the main events and big matches. Innovative. Good tag wrestler as well. One of the best story-tellers of all time and took a relatively difficult/cute gimmick and made it his own, even when he didn't always like it. Great ability to sell moves. Also a pretty good talker when he was in to the material.

THE BAD:
His reign on top was cut a little short and he wasn't the biggest draw. He also had some pretty rank feuds in his earlier years and during most of his title reigns.

THE UGLY:
He could be a pain in the ass to deal with. Would bicker as long as possible and had a tendency to bitch when things didn't go his way. Politicking. The Montreal situation also comes to mind.

What about you guys?

 

[Ferbian]

Finally one of interest Calderownz.

The good: First off, you mention only part of what was great about Shawn Michaels. He was more or less one of the most overall greatest wrestlers of all time. He could talk the talk and walk the walk like very few other wrestlers could ever imagine doing. He showcased himself like very few wrestlers really could. Being anything from a grappler to a high flier, and being able to make anybody look like gold in the ring.

I'd like to think there's only 1 or 2 guys that could ever come close to copying Shawn Michaels abilities in terms of being able to make anybody look like gold. And those two are Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho in particular. Which just shows what a high league Shawn was in.

The bad: I'm actually not sure. I would like to think the bad thing for Shawn Michaels career was the lack of title reigns later on. Certainly he didn't need them, but a title reign here and there could've been nice to see. Especially considering what awesome championship reigns Shawn had back in the 90's with the WWF championship and the Intercontinental championship.

The ugly: Even if I don't like it, I might have to agree with his backstage bullshit. He had his moments of being difficult to do business with. Yet certainly he still knew where to do the right thing, even if it took a little bit of convincing.

 

[Oracular Spectacular]

The Good
HBK could be a face or a heel and work both sides perfectly. Being versitile enough to change from heel to face on a whim.

The Bad
Lack of a last title reign for sure. Even if it would have been short lived, it would have been nice to see him at least have one reign before calling it quits.

The Ugly
DX in the late 2000's. Fat and weiner jokes at the age of 40...not funny. Not only that you really can't be a degenerate with the son-in-law of the company.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

The Good: Massively entertaining, a true showman that could keep your interest even outside of the ring (which is still a rare feat for most superstars). He can outwrestle, outshoot, and outperform almost anyone on any given roster. Given the fact he is still relevant in today's wrestling even when he was on the first RAW episode is within itself a blockbuster feat. Only one other has done that.

The Bad: For someone who has been a multiple WWE Champion and the face of the company in the mid 90s, his feuds weren't really memorable. This guy would main event in feuds against Psycho Sid, Vader, and Diesel. Now I'm not saying they aren't true superstars in their own right, I will say they weren't truly on-par to the movement Shawn Michaels was bringing to the plate. Not when you had Taker, Kane, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, etc all in the back. Shawn Michaels was in his prime and a fresh champion and they throw these random guys in with very little going within a storyline.

Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog: Reason? 'Cuz Bulldog's wife said HBK hit on her...
Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind: Reason? None really.
Shawn Michaels vs. Vader: Reason? Again, none really.
Shawn Michaels vs. Psycho Sid: Reason? First time, no reason. Second time, because Sid attacked Michael's manager.


The Ugly: Backstage politics. It's been noted that Shawn Michaels was one of the guys that held creative sway within the WWE back in the 90s, and has taken part in such controlled groups as "The Kliq", with its former members going to WCW and gaining creative control there too in the guise of the NWO. Although I'd say that's more of just a coincidence, I find it funny that this group would break Kayfabe in the MSG Incident and the only person that suffered any punishment was HHH, because Michaels was champion at the time and Diesel & Ramon were headed to the other company.

 

[Dagger Dias]

What a great addition to the "good/bad/ugly" thread series. The good, let's see.... Where do I even begin? He was a legend among legends. Great on the mic, put on a match with the intention to steal the show every night, great gimmick whether it be as HBK, part of DX, or even his short-lived Holy-Taker gimmick. Let's not forget all of his good title reigns also. Then there's the bad. That would be the fact that he never won a world title again after 2002. However the fact that he and Trips got to be tag team champions as DX made up for that.... a little.... Finally we have the ugly. I'll go with the backstage incidents around the time of Montreal. He was causing problems backstage and of course played a part in the screwjob too. Michaels and Hart reconciled in real life though, not just onscreen. Thus his bad as well as his ugly were mostly made up for, without even mentioning the endless list of things that were good about Michaels' career.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Good= Shawn was simply one of the best of all time. Incredibly talented in the ring, HBK could wrestle, he could fly and he was incredibly innovative. He was in alot of "firsts" in the WWE from the ladder matches to the elimination chamber to the Hell In A Cell matches. Shawn could always be relied upon to put on a show-stealing performance night after night, right up until his retirement, which is some going.

One of the best "sellers" of all time, HBK could draw you in and make you believe that he really was in agony, before kipping up and nailing someone with the Sweet Chin Music, one of the greatest and most iconic finishing moves of all time. Even after coming from from what everyone (Shawn included) was a career-ending back injury, HBK continued to steal the show every night, and put some incredible matches with so many guys (Triple H, Chris Jericho, Ric Flair in his retirement match, Undertaker at WM spring to mind).

He was part of the reveultionary faction D-Generation X, and was one of the catalysts of bringing "Attitude" to the WWE. Controversial, x-rated, hilarious, the original version of DX was brilliant, and with Shawn as his mentor, Triple H was able to grow as a perfomer and take over the faction after Shawn's retirement. Without HBK, I do not think Triple H would be where he is today.

After having serious issues with addiction for a long time, Shawn was able to get better, and after finding the Lord, turned his life around. He is a credit to what someone can achieve when they put their mind to it. He now does alot of work for the church and is a gret example of a family man.

The Bad= As mentioned, Shawn was not the biggest draw as champion, which is a black mark against him being the greatest of all time. As as in-ring perfomer he is the best, but if you dont make the company money then there is a problem. Also, as he is not the biggest, there is the believability factor in him beating guys much larger, although HBK (along with Bret) was one of the main guys in breaking down to a degree the "big guy beats small guy" mentality after the steroid trials in the 90's.

Also, his lack of title reigns after his retirement doesnt look good. Although willingly giving up the title opportunity due to him needing to go to church the morning after, I do think the WWE should have accomodated Shawn's religion and given him more championship reigns after he returned to the company. Yes, he had the short reign after winning the first Elimination Chamber match, but HBK as champion would have given the belt so much credibility after it had bounced around from wrestler to wrestler in the last few years. Maybe Shawn could have retired after losing the title to Undertaker at WM this year???

The Ugly= The backstage politics that marred Shawns early WWE career have to be mentioned here. Notoriously difficult to deal with as a young guy, even more so after the formation of the backstage clique, Shawn earned a reputation as a trouble maker and was incredibly arrogant. However, in later years this changed and HBK would do the job whenever required, which can be seen in the fact that he lost many championship matches after returning to the WWE and was happy to go out on his back.

The Montreal Screwjob. Where to begin? It is very unlikely that we will ever know the entire story, but Shawns role in it (whether he was in the right or in the wrong, and its probably a bit of both) does leave a sour taste in the mouth. He will always be a hate figure in Canada for whatever he did in Montreal, and it was sad that 2 of the greatest of all time- Bret Hart and Shawn Micahels, could no co-exist, as they made put on great matches together.

It is well known that Shawn had a severe drug addiction for years, which led to family and fellow wrestlers becoming worried about him. He would just go out and get wasted every night, as he admits himself and it nearly cost him his marriage. However, after finding God and help from family and friends (HHH and Kevin Nash did alot here), HBK was able to kick the habit and com back better than ever.

 

[mrbrownstone]

The Good: He was an absolutely amazing wrestler, probably top five of all time based purely on what he did inside the ring, who thrived in a big match situation. He could do anything from technical wrestling to high flying and everything in between. He was also extremely entertaining and charismatic and vastly underrated when it comes to his mic work. He also sold incredibly well and made even the most average, interesting wrestler look like a million bucks.

The Bad: His lack of memorable feuds while he was on top. Apart from Bret he didn't really have any memorable feuds, to be fare though that was partly due to a very weak roster during the time that he spent on top. Also his lack of drawing power as champ, sure he was great in the ring but he couldn't draw for shit. I think that this was partly to do with the fact that someone like a Hogan, Savage or Warrior never put him over, same goes for Bret. Instead of one of those three putting over the next generation they all left and these guys were just placed into the main event scene instead of being put over and earning their way there. This made them harder to accept as champ.

The Ugly: Those pants he wore at Survivor Series 2002, those things were fucking horrendous. Seriously though the backstage shit, he may have been a great wrestler but during his first run he seemed like a ******** backstage and that is just unprofessional and unacceptable.