Would You Have Liked To See A Shawn Michaels's WWE Championship Run After 2002?

[Hard Hit Prince]

Would You Have Liked To See A Shawn Michaels's WWE Championship Run After 2002?

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My memory isn't exactly the best and I wasn't watching pro-wrestling back in 2002 (it simply wasn't on in my country at the time), but I have to believe that Shawn Michaels's return was a big deal. After all, the last time he stepped foot in a ring was at WrestleMania against, arguably one of the biggest stars ever in the industry in Steve Austin in 1998.

The truth is that after his return, he didn't seem keen on winning the big one anymore. He did have a small run with the World Title, but history tells us that the HB-Shizzle simply wasn't interested in the pressure of being the world champion. He also wanted to give back to wrestling after his not-so-good rep as part of the "Cliq" back in the day.

Fine. I can respect that from such a legend that truly didn't need the championship, but I think it's a shame. Chris Jericho got to a point where he didn't need the title to be relevant and yet he won it several times after and got to do some of his best (no pon intended) work.

So if you had to give HBK a run with the WWE Championship, when and what would you do for it to begin and end? You thought it was fine the way it was? Good for you, but c'mon just play a little here.

Happy New Year WZ'OldSchoolers.

 

[LBGetBack]

Yes. I was rooting hard for Michaels to beat Cena for the title at Wrestlemania 23 (?). Around that time when Shawn pinned Cena on Raw after like an hour long match I remember pumping my fist and yelling in excitement.....an extremely rare thing as an adult fan. Cena as champ was tired, and after the DX run where Shawn felt a little bit second fiddle to HHH, I wanted to see Shawn as the top guy again. IMO, he was much more ready for a title run as the top face in 2007 than he was in 1996, and he could've had a great run.

 

[wrestler36]

It would have added some color to the rematch he had with Undertaker at Wrestlemania. I think Batista held the belt around that time and was feuding with Cena. Maybe at the Royal Rumble, it could have been Michaels vs Batista for the championship. Cena interferes and distracts Batista and Michaels ends up winning the title. At the same PPV, Undertaker wins the rumble. Sets up Taker vs Michaels, with Taker winning the first match, but this time Michaels walks in with the heavyweight title.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Believe it or not, I was thinking about this yesterday and was going to post a thread. I was looking back at former World Champions and was surprised to see Shawn Michaels hadn't won the title since 2002. He was always one of the top guys during this time but was never really involved in the top program.

I would have had Shawn Michaels win the title at One Night Stand 2007, defeating John Cena clean. Mid-2007 was where Cena's reign got really stale. Cena vs Shawn would have been much better than Cena vs Khali or Lashley. I would have then had Randy Orton win the title back four months later at Unforgiven 2007.

Well I checked around on some sites, and apparently Shawn was out with a knee injury for around 5 months, so obviously I couldn't do that. Honestly I don't see any other time he should have won. Shawn Michaels is one of the best ever and deserved the World Title during this time, but the circumstances were never right.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The answer is yes. Though the bigger question is when I would have wanted this last World Championship reign to have happened. It is hard to pinpoint when a good time would have been, looking back on it now in retrospect.... There is one time when I genuinely did want Michaels to win the belt again at the time. October 2007. John Cena had just vacated the title due to injury and Orton went through multiple WWE Championship matches at No Mercy to make up for Cena not making it to the event. I've always thought this was a dumb decision. There should only have been one WWE Championship match at the event. Orton could have faced Trips and Michaels (as a surprise replacement for Cena) in a triple threat where Orton does not get pinned and Michaels wins, which would be the reason Orton uses as a way to get a singles match for the title. Then the Michaels and Orton feud goes on from October to Survivor Series with Orton winning in the end so that Orton can resume the feud with Cena upon Cena's return at the Rumble. This would have been the best time to do it since afterwards Michaels would move on to the Flair and Jericho feuds which should not change. The only other time that is coming to mind would be in summer 2009 had he not taken a hiatus after Wrestlemania.

 

[#hamler]

Once Shawn returned from his injury in 2002, he'd already cemented himself as one of the greatest performers of all time. Shawn didn't need a title reign to validate himself. He was already bigger than any title and that's a club very few can or will ever be apart of.

With that, I would've loved for Shawn to win the title again at some point just because I'm selfish and a bit of a fanboy. There were certainly opportunities for it. Opportunities where it seemed like the babyface would overcome the heel in a tradition that has taken place since wrestling was invented. His feud with Jericho was the highlight 2008 - probably the highlight of Michaels' post 2002 WWE career. This was the time Shawn should've won the title.

A feud so intense that crowd reactions remained consistant throughout, Michaels' and Jericho's beef with one another seemed real. The detached retina, the ref stoppage at the Great American Bash and Jericho punching Shawn's wife during a segment on Raw. This feud was classic for the babyface overcoming everything and beating Jericho for the title that he won in the scramble match. At No Mercy 2007, Jericho got the final laugh and won their World Title ladder match in what was a match of the Year candidate. This feud is obviously one of the best feuds ever but I feel Shawn winning in their final match would've made it just that much better - a happy ending to such a passionate/emotional war.

If Shawn Michaels was going to win the title anywhere from 2002- his retirement in 2010, it should've been during the most intense rivalry of the post Attitude Era in Chris Jericho.

 

[Loveless]

It should have been Wrestlemania 23 against Cena. That match was setup for the fairytale ending and when Cena won it, it pissed a lot of people off and made him even more unpopular. Ultimately I believe HBK was meant to get a run a few months later (just after the hour-long on Raw) but a knee injury put an end to that.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I think it would be hard to find someone who doesn't agree with the notion that Shawn Michaels could've won the title several times after his 2002 return. He was absolutely deserving but much to his credit it didn't affect his popularity at all.

For a specific HBK storyline that could've been enhanced by him winning the belt, I think we need to look no further than WrestleMania 23. Despite spending the majority of 2006 as a tag team wrestler (and to be honest more of a sidekick than a co-star) both WWE Creative and Michaels did a stellar job building him back to top guy status for WrestleMania Season. Michaels was seemingly on fire for the Road to WM23 and I actually thought at the time he was going to walk away as champ. Michaels could've held the belt all the way through to No Mercy 2007 for Orton's first WWE run, putting on classics with Edge, Cena and Bobby Lashley on ppv along the way.

There are times in 2003 where he could've taken the belt off Goldberg for a quick run (he could've easily been the defending champ for WM XX it didn't have to be HHH) and also a heel WHC run in 2005 is a very intriguing option. During his WHC feud with Y2J in 2008 I also wouldn't have minded if they played hot potato for a little bit. I think just about any rivalry he had was world title feud worthy (besides the one vs the McMahons) but as I said before he simply was so good that the lack of title runs never hurt his popularity. I hope this post was helpful.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

HBK's 2002 title run could definitely have lasted longer than what it did, but WWE and possibly Shawn himself, chose to give the rub to HHH because he was the company's next big thing. If anything though, the HBK vs Triple H saga deserved a WrestleMania match and WM 19 would have been perfect. But for obvious reasons, that match didn't happen.

Then, the other right time was WM 23. And that came out of nowhere. Remember, HHH was supposed to face and beat John Cena at WM 23. However HHH got injured and everybody got super excited for HBK. Everybody wanted HBK to win that night. However, once again, it was Michaels himself that denied the title run, due to his light schedule and the fact that he wanted time off. He left the company a couple of months later and didn't return until October.

If only the part-timer era was a thing back then..

 

[ComeOnVince]

I think if WWE had chosen to do so, they would have been completely justified in doing so.

However - I am also of the opinion that HBK, at that time, was one of the few superstars of whom it could be said that he did not need a title to legitimize his place on top. HBK was a top guy regardless of what he was doing or what hardware he was carrying. His presence was a monstrous bonus anyway, as no one thought when he left that he would ever be able to return.

His history, his charisma, and his talent made HBK a top-tier guy - title or no title. I think they were right not to give HBK the top title, because he simply didn't need it. in many ways, being in the ring with HBK was enough to give a rub to whomever he was facing (except Hogan, who he completely took a crap on).

We saw a different man return to WWE than we saw leave years before. He really did seem intent on enjoying his new opportunity and "giving back" to the business, even if that meant, in part, elevating HHH. He was their top guy after SCSA and Rock left. So that made sense.

Anyway, I'm rambling now. All to say: they could have but didn't need to. He didn't need it. ultimately no one was hurt or delegitimized by HbK not having the top title, including HBK himself.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Yes. I was rooting hard for Michaels to beat Cena for the title at Wrestlemania 23 (?). Around that time when Shawn pinned Cena on Raw after like an hour long match I remember pumping my fist and yelling in excitement.....an extremely rare thing as an adult fan. Cena as champ was tired, and after the DX run where Shawn felt a little bit second fiddle to HHH, I wanted to see Shawn as the top guy again. IMO, he was much more ready for a title run as the top face in 2007 than he was in 1996, and he could've had a great run.

I was at that Mania and I can tell you that along with yourself, me and just about the rest of that 80000 + crowd at Ford Field wanted Michaels to win the title at Mania 23. I will never forget remaining in my seat after Michaels tapped because I thought for sure he was getting the title. That was the last time I was upset over the outcome of a match.

 

[HatchetMan84]

He really did need at least one more serious run, IMO. Not that it was needed to cement his legacy, but because it was what the fans wanted.

IIRC, Shawn spoke in one of his books that Vince offered him the title several times in 2002, one of which was going to be a lengthy run, and Shawn at the time declined because #1 - he was a little unsure of if he would hold up beyond a few matches, and #2 - he did not want to go back on the road 300 days a year as he was recently clean (within a year) and sober and worried what life on the road would do to him.

Supposedly Vince kept insisting and Shawn, forever being a company guy, told Vince that he wouldn't refuse him if he made him do it because he was his boss, and Vince told him that he wouldn't make him do house shows, only Raws and PPV's, etc.. Shawn then told Vince that traditionally the champion is the guy who works all the dates, and didn't want "special treatment", so the issue was done right there according to Shawn

 

[FlairFan2003]

I was at that Mania and I can tell you that along with yourself, me and just about the rest of that 80000 + crowd at Ford Field wanted Michaels to win the title at Mania 23. I will never forget remaining in my seat after Michaels tapped because I thought for sure he was getting the title. That was the last time I was upset over the outcome of a match.

That wasnt his role though, as an "elder statesman" Shawn was there specifically to burnish Cena (which he did), a role he basically shared with Ric Flair during this time. Cena was the biggest star of the moment and unlike a near 50 HBK with chronic back & drug issues he was much more reliable going forward.

I could have maybe seen HBK getting a token reign with a big RAW moment but only if it ended like Mania, with HBK putting over Cena.

 

[FlairFan2003]

If only the part-timer era was a thing back then..

Where you watching back then, HBK only wrestled maybe half the year and routinely took long sabaticals, as did Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan was around (part time) in & out this entire time. By the end of this run (2002-09) Taker was moving into a part time role.

If anything, this was the "Part Timer" Era

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Where you watching back then, HBK only wrestled maybe half the year and routinely took long sabaticals, as did Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan was around (part time) in & out this entire time. By the end of this run (2002-09) Taker was moving into a part time role.

If anything, this was the "Part Timer" Era

Yeah but the WWE would never dare to make a part timer a champion, like they did with The Rock and Brock Lesnar. That's what I mean.

 

[Goldie]

I'm surprised that this didn't happen after 2002.
Through 2003 he was still a part timer.... and though he still had his absences... he steadily eased into a more regular schedule (albeit not always a full one) , and it is here where he could have, and IMO should have had another title reign.

During this part of his career Michaels didn't need the title to be over- fans accepted him as a living legend- however given his buddy Triple H was collecting world titles by the bucketload- and Shawn was the more popular of the two (and better in ring performer, and better talker)... its surprising that Shawn wasn't booked for another run.

In the era where world titles change hands very frequently- it wouldn't matter if Shawn didn't wrestle every week, He did have spells with frequent appearances- and it is during one of these spells he could have had another token run for a month or so

 

[LBGetBack]

That wasnt his role though, as an "elder statesman" Shawn was there specifically to burnish Cena (which he did), a role he basically shared with Ric Flair during this time. Cena was the biggest star of the moment and unlike a near 50 HBK with chronic back & drug issues he was much more reliable going forward.

I could have maybe seen HBK getting a token reign with a big RAW moment but only if it ended like Mania, with HBK putting over Cena.

Shawn was 41 at the time. Not "near 50". He's only 51 right now! Huge difference. He was arguably the best performer on the roster at the time. Cena had carried the title for most of 2005, nearly all of 2006, and now still had it in early 2007. Him losing it for a few months might've been the best thing for him at the time, because his whole act and reign was just tired and stale. The time was right for Shawn.