Shawn Michaels back injury - Wrestlemania 14 a Work??

[littleguns]

So I was recently listening to interviews with Taker. He stated that Shawn Michaels did not want to job to Stone Cold at WM 14 and that Taker pretty much Threatened him to do the job right before Shawn walked out.

So it has me wondering, was Shawn's back injury a work so that he had a reason to lose to Austin?

 Was his 3-4 yr hiatus not recovery but rather because he was sour about Austin being the next heir to title?

Inquiring Minds want to know

[Montague]

Shawn was known to frequently pull bitch moves like faking injuries during this time period (the multiple career-ending knee injuries comes to mind).
And, yes: several guys from that era have told the story of Taker threatening Shawn about doing the right thing prior to WM XIV - something to the effect, “By the time I finish taping my fist, you’d better have made the right decision.”

However, I don’t believe the back injury was a work, based on input from other people in the company at that time. Also, it’s my opinion that the length of time he took off was indicative of a legitimate injury as opposed to one of his usual tantrums.
The other “injuries” he returned from way too fast; more like when he got what he wanted, and/or decided to stop acting like a prick.

[GraniteCityDon]

from another forum, didnt hear about this but can anyone confirm if its true?


One of the Kliq members took a shiit in Sunny's food, and when Candido said he was gonna fuuck Shawn Michaels up, Shawn said if he touched him, when they got back to the states he'd have Vince make them job the Body Donnas of the tag team titles, and HE DID.

[GraniteCityDon]

wow these guys have ALOT of shit on HBK, i knew he was an asshole but this is ridiculous if true........

Bam Bam Bigleow was supposed to get a push as a face for doing the job to LT at WrestleMania 11 but the Kliq wasn't havin it so it never happened.

Also, I think Vader was supposed to win the title at SummerSlam 1996 but Shawn refused to job to him. That's why the In Your House PPV later that Year was titled "It's Time" because Vader was supposed to be champ.

He refused to job to the British Bulldog even though Vince told him to in the European title finals, after BB dedicated the match to his dying sister

[Montague]

wow these guys have ALOT of shit on HBK, i knew he was an asshole but this is ridiculous if true........

Bam Bam Bigleow was supposed to get a push as a face for doing the job to LT at WrestleMania 11 but the Kliq wasn't havin it so it never happened.

Also, I think Vader was supposed to win the title at SummerSlam 1996 but Shawn refused to job to him. That's why the In Your House PPV later that Year was titled "It's Time" because Vader was supposed to be champ.

He refused to job to the British Bulldog even though Vince told him to in the European title finals, after BB dedicated the match to his dying sister

from another forum, didnt hear about this but can anyone confirm if its true?


One of the Kliq members took a shiit in Sunny's food, and when Candido said he was gonna fuuck Shawn Michaels up, Shawn said if he touched him, when they got back to the states he'd have Vince make them job the Body Donnas of the tag team titles, and HE DID.

Yes, these stories have made rounds for many years, now, and are just a small representation of why I despise Shawn Michaels and always will. I never cared for the faggotry of the character, and knowing that he’s done things like the above lead me to dislike the person.
The few times I was privileged enough to meet Chris & Tammy, they were both very nice, respectable people. I’ve never heard anyone say the same about Michael Shawn Hickenbottom.

HBK is a gutless prick, bitch, tool, hypocrite, liar, bi-sexual, cry baby, and phony.

There’s also a bad side to him.

[littleguns]

I believe it was Cornette that reiterated the Vader-Michaels thing. He said "Leon was a tough guy to work with but Shawn made it even more tough".

I would love to have been a fly on the wall for the Taker threat, I just never really cared for him. They call him Mr Wrestlemania but his record is like 6-11, his matches are good but again too much hype. Also never liked how he "tuned up the band" for the super kick, cmon now.

You know what, he's gone and time to start knocking someone else.......

[Montague]

I believe it was Cornette that reiterated the Vader-Michaels thing. He said "Leon was a tough guy to work with but Shawn made it even more tough".

I would love to have been a fly on the wall for the Taker threat, I just never really cared for him. They call him Mr Wrestlemania but his record is like 6-11, his matches are good but again too much hype. Also never liked how he "tuned up the band" for the super kick, cmon now.

Yeah, Corny recounted the Vader story in some of the clips I posted in the shoot interview thread.
And, to this day, I am astonished and perplexed by Shawn Michaels' appeal.
As I've mentioned countless times, he's got the smallest, but most devoted fan base of any wrestler.

The majority of fans didn't care for Shawn's character, as is evidenced by the drop in ratings WWF experienced while he was in the driver's seat with the big belt.
But, you can't blame Shawn entirely for that; it was Vince who put him in that spot.

[The Showstoppa]

I still think Monty has a crush on HBK.... 


In all seriousness, much of the alleged things against Michaeals are most likely jealous nonsense.  Or at the very least the VAST majority of them were at least as much to blame on VKM as Shawn.  All of the not jobbing, not wanting to work with certain wrestlers was allowed by VKM. 

And as much as anybody hates him, you have to admit that he was a HUGE part of launching the attitude era, much of which was just him and the Kliq bringing stuff in front of the cameras that was taking place behind the scenes.  His work during the time of him, HHH and Chyna forming DX was incredible....both in ring and on the mic.  I don't care about ppv buyrates, etc... as thats not how I rate a wrestler in any way, shape or form.

[Montague]

I don't care about ppv buyrates, etc... as thats not how I rate a wrestler in any way, shape or form.

Absolutely.
Just as it is a stupid argument when people cry that Hogan drew bigger numbers than Flair, etc. That's a case of different companies, different audiences...basically, a different product.

The slight difference here is I'm going by the number of Federation fans that fell off during the Michaels transition.
The scenario was Shawn Michaels was placed in an environment in which all things were equal, and he wasn't good enough to cut it.
Bret was one of the best workers in the business. If Shawn was anywhere near as good a worker, business would have at least stagnated.

There are multiple criteria to rating a worker/wrestler.
In this instance, and under these specific circumstances, I feel that factoring in the "numbers" is certainly a justifiable consideration in rating Shawn Michaels.
The fact was, Shawn was lacking something.

[littleguns]

I still believe that govely voice of his is an act he puts on like Christian Bale playing Batman. But thats not what sold me on him. HBK's in ring ability is what did it for me. .

I thought I was the only one that noticed that. Shane DOuglas has that same sort of voice as well. I have tried to find Texas wrestling interviews but no luck.

[OLE BIG]

I still think Monty has a crush on HBK.... 


In all seriousness, much of the alleged things against Michaeals are most likely jealous nonsense.  Or at the very least the VAST majority of them were at least as much to blame on VKM as Shawn.  All of the not jobbing, not wanting to work with certain wrestlers was allowed by VKM. 

And as much as anybody hates him, you have to admit that he was a HUGE part of launching the attitude era, much of which was just him and the Kliq bringing stuff in front of the cameras that was taking place behind the scenes.  His work during the time of him, HHH and Chyna forming DX was incredible....both in ring and on the mic.  I don't care about ppv buyrates, etc... as thats not how I rate a wrestler in any way, shape or form.

I think it is very obvious who has the crush.

[littleguns]

So I guess it will be interesting if Shawn is involved in the Taker/HHH match as some have said special guest referee. He obviously cannot screw anyone as he will no longer wrestle.

So what do you all feel is Shawn's best match?

[GraniteCityDon]

His first ladder match against Razor ALWAYS sticks in my mind. Never rated HBK as a top tier guy regardless of the hype but that was a great match.

[mass 04]

I think it was without question a legit injury, but I also think that he was so fucked up mentally that it exacerbated the injury. It's hard to rehab when you're fucked up on pills 24 hours a day. In retrospect, the time off was the best thing that could have happened to him.

[The Showstoppa]

I think it is very obvious who has the crush.

Don't worry stud, if he's wearing the cowboy hat, he's all yours... 

[MCWAY]

So I was recently listening to interviews with Taker. He stated that Shawn Michaels did not want to job to Stone Cold at WM 14 and that Taker pretty much Threatened him to do the job right before Shawn walked out.

So it has me wondering, was Shawn's back injury a work so that he had a reason to lose to Austin?

 Was his 3-4 yr hiatus not recovery but rather because he was sour about Austin being the next heir to title?

Inquiring Minds want to know

The injury was legit. Shawn could hardly walk in that match against Austin. Even Triple H said in his video that the reason he and Austin worked so well in their feud, when Helmsley was champion, was because they'd worked well together in the past. Triple H replaced Michaels in a number of house shows, before WrestleMania 14.

Michaels was spared, just to keep him in one piece to drop the title to Austin. Also remember that Savio Vega replaced Michaels in that 8-man tag team match at In Your House: No Way Out of Texas.

[MCWAY]

I believe it was Cornette that reiterated the Vader-Michaels thing. He said "Leon was a tough guy to work with but Shawn made it even more tough".

I would love to have been a fly on the wall for the Taker threat, I just never really cared for him. They call him Mr Wrestlemania but his record is like 6-11, his matches are good but again too much hype. Also never liked how he "tuned up the band" for the super kick, cmon now.

You know what, he's gone and time to start knocking someone else.......

As half of the Rockers:

WM 5 - Loss to the Twin Towers
WM 6 - Loss to the Orient Express (countout)

As a singles wrestler:

WM 9 - Loss to Tantanka (as champion via countout, IC title match)
WM10 - Loss to Razor Ramon (IC title match)
WM11 - Loss to Diesel (as challenger, WWF title match)
WM14 - Loss to Steve Austin (as champion, WWF title match)
WM20 - Loss to Chris Benoit (as challenger in triple threat World title match)
WM21 - Loss to Kurt Angle (via submission)
WM23 - Loss to John Cena (as challenger, WWE title match)
WM25 - Loss to Undertaker
WM26 - Loss to Undertaker (Career vs. Streak match, Michaels' career ended)

[Montague]

Both men took some hard bumps in this match; Shawn more so. Austin took a heavy slam against a full-sized dumpster, causing it to move (I know it was on wheels, but still...). HBK took a crazy fall out of the ring at 8:32 in the first clip. In fact, his body took a good beating for much of the match.
If you look at how Shawn moved a lot of times, as well as the facial expressions he made, it just seems a little too genuine as opposed to selling.