Shawn Michaels: Difference between revisions

[[File:ShawnMichaels064.jpg|frame|Eat your heart out, girls. Hands off the merchandise!]]

 

 

 

Not to be mistaken for porn actor Sean Michaels. For one, Sean Michaels is black.

* [[Arch Enemy]]: [[Bret Hart]] (in the ring and [[Real Life]]).

** Although Hart's return to WWE in 2010 coupled with Michaels's conversion to Christianity seems to have buried that hatchet in [[Real Life]].

* [[The Artifact]]: Shawn's persona pre-2002 was ''very'' different than the one he had from 2002-2010. However, Shawn still maintained many of the tropes of his "Sexy Boy" rock star gimmick, perhaps most glaringly his nickname of "the Heartbreak Kid" and his theme song. Anyone who wasn't aware of his gimmicks in the 80's and 90's were probably very confused as to why the Bible-thumping laid back [[Cool Old Guy]] was coming out to "Sexy Boy."

* [[The Atoner]]: Ever since his [[Real Life]] conversion to Christianity, Shawn became this. He tried to tone down his former juvenile delinquent hellraiser persona in the ring and, behind the scenes, work with the current talent and put over younger wrestlers (which he would never have done in the past). Finally, in 2010, he buried the hatchet with [[Bret Hart]] and apologized for his part in the [[Montreal Screwjob]].

** Actually, he DIDN'T apologise. He admited his part on the Screwjob and buried the hatched with Bret, but he was very clear that Bret "deserved what happened 12 years ago in Montreal". It was much more an understanding of what actually happened than an apology. The video is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wWOZ08YsNM here].

* [[Attention Whore]]: In his younger days. He's toned it down a ''lot'' since he found religion and got less of an ego.

* [[Bash Brothers]]: With [[Triple H]].

** And with [[Kevin Nash]] before that.

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: Shawn's match with [[Ric Flair]] at ''[[Wrestlemania]] 24''.

** The "Career vs Streak" match against [[The Undertaker]] at Wrestlemania 26.

* [[Blood Is the New Black]]: The first Hell in a Cell match with the Undertaker. Watch the spot with the Snake Eyes to the outside of the cage, and see if you can spot Shawn's amazing mid-air blade job. He's practically all-crimson by the time the match ends.

* [[Book Ends]]: [[Tear Jerker|"Ladies and gentlemen, The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels, has left the building."]]

* [[Catch Phrase]]: "[[Shawn Michaels]] [[Meaningful Echo|has left the building]]!" [[Brick Joke|Brought up when he]] [[Face Heel Turn|became]] the Heartbreak Kid, after [[Bittersweet Ending|WrestleMania XXVI]] [[Book Ends|it takes a]] [[Tear Jerker|whole new meaning]].

* [[Cheap Heat]] / [[Take That]]: Shawn's infamous [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcflzf_who-s-your-daddy-montreal-raw-08-15_sport "Who's your Daddy, Montreal?"] promo in Montreal during his 2005 feud with [[Hulk Hogan]], during which Shawn called out Bret Hart...and Hart's theme music played, leading the entire crowd to believe that Bret was coming out to confront Shawn. But then it was revealed to be Shawn playing the crowd for fools, which earned him a loud chorus of boos:

** And just to REALLY stick it to Montreal, he pulls the same stunt again a few minutes later, this time with [[Hulk Hogan]]'s music:

* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]: His [[Establishing Character Moment]]. It started in 1992 by flinging Marty Janetty through a barbershop window and just kept happening.

** His betrayal of [[D Generation X|DX]] to the Corporation.

** It's also been [[Lampshaded]] in numerous promos. [[Triple H]] has done it at least twice, once most notably in 2002 to [[Kevin Nash]], when Nash was being forced to choose who he'd side with - Shawn or Hunter. [[Triple H]] reminded Nash of all the times Shawn had screwed over a tag-team partner, including themselves, in the past, and concluded that "you know as well as I do that the best success we ever had in this business was when we walked away from Shawn Michaels".

** Shawn has been the victim of this as well. Once by [[Kevin Nash]] before his Iron Man Match with [[Bret Hart]] and another time by [[Triple H]] in a teased DX reunion in 2002. Sherri Martel did him in as well at the 1993 Royal Rumble. (Of course, he had it coming, having made her take a blow from a mirror to save himself a few months before.)

* [[Cool Old Guy]]: From 2002 to his retirement in 2010.

* [[Professional Wrestling/Funny|Crowning Moment Of Funny]]: Shawn doing the "Shane-O-Mac Shuffle" while imitating [[Shane McMahon]] during DX's feud with Vince and Shane.

* [[D Generation X]]

* [[Discontinuity Nod]]: He and [[Triple H]] took shots at the infamous Katie Vick angle in a promo on 2007.

** He took a shot at the angle in 2002, after winning the World Heavyweight Title for the first time:

* [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]]: Some of his wrestling attire and jewelry in the early-to-mid 90's made him pretty femme. Add that to the long, gorgeous blonde hair and well, it got confusing there for a little bit.

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]

** Not to mention the short-shorts, penchant for jewelry, and aversion to shirts.

** He posed (in a non-nude spread) for Playgirl unaware that the readership is mostly gay males. A lot of the other wrestlers found this pretty funny. This was [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] later during his second run in DX:

'''Shawn''': I was young! I was stupid! You told me girls bought that magazine! }}

*** Note that "non-nude" is more a technicality than anything; one of the pictures has Shawn wearing only a hat and earrings, with nothing but a strategically-placed Intercontinental Championship belt covering his privates.

** His [[Ho Yay]] with [[Triple H]] probably helps a tad as well.

* [[Finishing Move]]: Sweet Chin Music, aka the Superkick.

** He was also one of the very few wrestlers to use [[Chris Benoit]]'s Crippler Crossface.

** Early in his career, Shawn also used a leghook saito suplex called the Teardrop as a finisher.

* [[Foe Yay]]: Shawn and [[Bret Hart]], for ''twelve years''. Also had it with [[Chris Jericho]], [[Edge]], and [[The Undertaker]].

** His three year feud with [[Triple H]] also came off as a particularly nasty breakup (especially in the early going when Trips was acting like a deranged abusive boyfriend trying to prove that Shawn needed him for protection).

*** Except when he's in DX - apparently, that gives him uber-[[Popularity Power]].

* [[Game-Breaking Injury]]: Shawn's aforementioned back injury.

* [[Heroic BSOD]]:

** In the 2010 Royal Rumble, one of the biggest stories going in was [[Shawn Michaels]]' desire to face [[The Undertaker]] at ''[[Wrestlemania]]'' in order to try and avenge his loss to him the year prior (in a match that was widely considered to be the best of 2009), an since Taker is the current World Heavyweight Champion, the only way for Michaels to have a guaranteed stab at him was to win the Rumble match itself and challenge him at Mania. So in the Rumble match itself, [[Shawn Michaels]] survives a long stretch of the match (eliminating [[Triple H]], ''his own tag team partner'', in the process) and makes the final four, where he... goes out first, at the hands of [[Batista]]. The BSOD ensues immediately afterwards, only broken up briefly by Michaels trying to go back into the ring and taking his frustrations out on the referees before returning to a near-catatonic state.

** HBK's biggest BSOD came after the 1996 Survivor Series. Not only did the NYC crowd boo him during his WWF Championship defense against Sycho Sid, but Sid resorted to taking out Jose Lothario out with a camera to completely demoralize Shawn. Sid ended up winning the WWF Championship.

** During the second encounter at [[Wrestlemania]] between [[The Undertaker]] and [[Triple H]] in their Hell in a Cell match, where Shawn was the guest referee, at one point during the match things had gotten to the point of Shawn being told by the Undertaker not to stop the match no matter what happened. This was after 'Taker had suffered a few chair shots to the back and Triple H had just gotten the same in return. Watching his best friend and one of his idols beating the tar out of each other was apparently too much; Shawn was sitting in the corner of the ring looking like he was having a nervous breakdown.

** In 2011, Hunter inducted Shawn into the Hall of Fame, and there was much love abounding [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYooxiT_coE both before] and during the ceremony.

** He interrupted [[Randy Orton]]'s coronation as new champion by beating the crap out of him.

* [[Hot Dad]]

** His hour-plus Iron Man match against [[Bret Hart]] cemented their positions as the company's best talent, leaving it all in the ring.

** His Hell in a Cell match against Hunter was like this as well, with Shawn taking [[No One Could Survive That|3 Pedigrees]] before finally going down.

*** His original Hell in a Cell match against [[The Undertaker]] also counts.

* [[Ho Yay]]: He and Triple H are the walking, talking embodiment of the trope, especially in DX. He also has it with [[Chris Jericho]], [[John Cena]], and [[The Undertaker]].

* [[I Have the High Ground]]

** At ''Wrestlemania XXIV'', he ended [[Ric Flair]]'s career by defeating him; and

** At ''Wrestlemania XXVI'', he bet his career he could end the Undertaker's streak. He couldn't.

* [[Lovable Traitor]]: Practically the [[Trope Codifier]] for professional wrestling. A good amount of the feuds he's been in over the years, especially, with fellow faces, have been built upon the fact that he can turn on them at any time, usually with his [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]] being brought up. Yet the crowd loves him for it.

** After his final Wrestlemania match and his retirement speech the next night on Raw.

* [[Professional Wrestling/Memes|Memetic Mutation]]: Shawn "losing his smile"; achieving the "boyhood dream"; "LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDER MATCH"; "I JUST KICKED STAN!"; and if you're not down with that, he's got two words for you . . . see below.

** Perhaps the biggest is his contribution to the vocabularies of twelve-year-old boys everywhere - "SUCK IT!".

* [[Motor Mouth]]: Most notably in his DX phase. His real-life big mouth got him into a lot of trouble on numerous occasions.

* [[Nice Character, Mean Actor]]: As noted by [[Jim Cornette]] during the days of Shawn's excessive [[Drugs Are Bad|pill popping.]] According to Jim, during his match with [[Vader]], Summerslam 1996 Shawn berated Vader for missing a cue. Shawn even [[Kick the Dog|made the big man cry]] after threatening to fire him for pulling his hair.

* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: Shawn's return match in 2002 - a hardcore brawl with [[Triple H]] - was one of these. Surprisingly, it wasn't one-sided, with both Shawn and [[Triple H]] on the receiving end of said beatdown.

** They did it again at the '04 Royal Rumble, in a Last Man Standing match that ''neither one'' walked away from. It's a testament to both men's abilities and the severity of the back-and-forth beatdown that they pulled off a double-DQ match in ''Philadelphia'' (the birthplace of [[ECW]], whose fans are among the most [[Smart Mark|vicious and rabid]]) and got a standing ovation from the crowd.

** Also: the very first Hell in a Cell match, which Shawn won, though he was on the receiving end of the beatdown.

** And his match with [[Vince McMahon]] at Wrestlemania 22. In short? Shawn pwned Vince ''thoroughly''.

** Both gave and received one from [[Chris Jericho]] at during their feud.

* [[Popularity Power]]

* [[Power Stable]]: [[D Generation X]].

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: Virtually everything in the first iteration of DX was done by Shawn trying to make one of the boys laugh. Mooning [[Vince McMahon]], stuffing his trunks with gauze, carrying homemade signs, the frat-boy humor...

* [[Religious Bruiser]]: Became one with his comeback in 2002 and continued as one until his retirement.

* [[Ricky Morton]]: Especially in DX. Every single match seemed to run along the lines of "heel team beats [[Shawn Michaels]] like a bag of puppies, Shawn makes the hot tag to Hunter, Hunter kicks ass, they hit their double finishers, and win the match".

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]:

* [[Spot Monkey]]: Shawn is an interesting aversion. While he did employ a lot of high-level spots in his matches (at every point in his career, up until he retired) and is pretty much the standard to which all spot monkeys aspire, he's one of the acknowledged best at using [[Wrestling Psychology]] and said spots to tell stories with his matches.

* [[Still Got It]]: The guy was 44 years old when he retired, an age that even the greatest wrestlers (most notably [[The Undertaker]] right now) never really last to in the ring due to the intense physicality of the sport, and Shawn was STILL just as good as he was in his 20s. Some would say even better.

** Even into his "retirement" years, Shawn would play with this: when Vince tried to fire him as Commissioner, he responded by superkicking the man and then stripping over his unconscious body.

** Shawn portrayed a "sexy Jesus" a few weeks before his match with Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXV. Yes, you read that right. An angelic figure in white, stripping to "Sexy Boy."

* [[Theatrics of Pain]]: He's one of the best wrestlers at selling, especially when it involves his [[Game-Breaking Injury|back]]. He's also admitted that half the time, when it comes to his back, he really isn't faking it.

* [[The Fundamentalist]]: Shawn became an evangelical Christian in [[Real Life]]; it occasionally influenced his wrestling storylines (most notably in his [[Crucified Hero Shot|entrance pose]]).

* [[The Mentor]]: Shawn mentored many wrestlers during his four-year retirement, including Lance Cade, Paul London, and [[TNA]] wrestlers Michael Shane and (The) Brian Kendrick. [[Bryan Danielson]] also trained under him before launching onto the indy circuit.

** And during his feud with [[Chris Jericho]] in 2008.

** Time will tell us if his current retirement will play this trope straight or not. It's already lasted longer than the last two combined. While he has been back in the ring, it's been strictly as a referee or guest, not as a wrestler. Shawn himself is pretty emphatic he's done with in-ring performing.

* [[Tragic Mistake]]: Shawn and Bret were initially friends whose heat was mostly limited to [[Kayfabe]]. When Shawn made the mistake of actually targeting Bret's family in a promo to gain heat, he crossed a line with Bret. If that had never happened, a lot of tragedy could have been averted.

* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: With [[Triple H]], especially in [[D Generation X]]. Also in [[Real Life]].

** ''Especially'' in real life. [http://atlanta.sbnation.com/pro-wrestling/2011/4/2/2087732/wwe-hall-of-fame-induction-ceremony-2011-triple-h-shawn-michaels Hunter's induction speech] is full of cracks about Shawn's hair, wardrobe, height, and intelligence . . . but also a ton of love and respect.

* [[With Friends Like These...]]: Kayfabe; HHH and Shawn still had a lot of love for each other even though they spent the better part of three years trying to end each other's career.

* [[Worked Shoot]]: Subverted by the [[Montreal Screwjob]], which was very much a shoot. After claiming for years he wasn't in on it, he finally admitted he was.

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Any of his co-[[Face]] rivals [[Arch Enemy|except]] [[Bret Hart]]. [[The Undertaker]] and [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] are perhaps the most notable examples.

** Indeed, Hart considered Michaels a worthy opponent; while the two hated each other, they at least had respect for each other's in-ring abilities.

* [[Author Existence Failure|Wrestler Existence Failure]]: The death of [[Eddie Guerrero]] in 2005 robbed wrestling fans of the chance to see Eddie and Shawn in the same ring for the first time.

[[Category:The Nineties]]

[[Category:Professional Wrestling]]

[[Category:Wrestling]]