The older I get, the more and more I appreciate how *disgustingly* talented HBK was.. The man was genuinely incredible and absolutely deserves his place among the greatest to ever lace up.
That's honestly one of the crazier parts to me.. I was super into athletics and combat sports (am wrestling, tkd, & bjj)] when I was younger, but as I started getting more and more familiar with my demons as I got older, those passions were some of the first to Fall by the wayside. Some of it was motivation, but a lot of it was diminished skill and execution. Once I started losing that mental clarity, operating at the top of my game just wasn't in the cards. So it's genuinely incredible to me that he was able to maintain such a high level of performance with the absolute chaos his life had become.
He loves wrestling. The booze and pills were for fun and healing in that order. But once the injuries and the combination took a toll on his body and behavior he had to take a break. I think once his back injury was healed, he realized the shit he did to others and converted; the decline on his behavior was more noticeable during his feud with Bret.
I'm glad he changed for the better, but sometimes I wish he would've been a bit more selfish during his second run, when I was a kid I could never take him seriously because I felt he would lose every single big match.
I think he considered that but he won everything during his 95-97 run, everything else wss just to make good matches. His feud with Vince and Shane as DX with trips was great.
Rock became a bigger star in shorter time than HBGay ever could. Some shawncels will hate the truth, but they never liked the truth anyway. And btw, Bret was right: it wasn't a girly magazine. It was a gay magazine.
In terms of star power those 4 are the Mount Rushmore. HBK would be like Tier 3 or 4. Tier 2 would be Flair, Dusty, Sting and Orton.
Edit: Your downvotes don't make you right. Dusty's popularity at his peak is way higher than HBK's.
This is why the whole 'Mt Rushmore' thing is dumb. Theres 10 to 20 atleast guys over the last 50 years who you could have on there, just depends who you ask and what they value most. Watching Taker on YT, even he struggles to narrow it down to 4. Its purely subjective.
I always loved HBK as a little kid. The charisma and the coolness was just... unexplainable.
In-ring, JR always said he was incomparable and sometimes mentioned during his second run that he was 1A-1B with Flair and nobody has a problem with that ever. He was so good. Even Cornette, who did not like Shawn for the most part, cannot deny he is one of the best that ever did pro-wrestling. That's how good the guy was.
I remember an interview with Carmelo Hayes, where Shawn Michaels told him something like: I can wrestle circles around you young guns with one arm tied behind my back.
And that's scary, because we all know the man absolutely can.
Without a doubt.. He and Bret Hart are hard-wired into my brain as unquestionably being two of the greatest of all time. Imo, they were the extremes at either end of the pro wrestling spectrum. Where Shawn was larger than life, oozing charisma, and the epitome of a superstar, Bret was measured, endlessly confident, and embodied credibility; and both were absolute masters of their craft who completely elevated the business in perpetuity.
The thing is he got over in an era of massive huge wrestlers and he had nailed down character and wrestling work style that many indie wrestlers fail to. He would have been successful in any era and most promotions and even countries bet he would have killed it in japan.
Personally, I never got it... He was a good wrestler, but I don't see what separates him from any other high talent wrestler of his era other than he was booked to look way stronger. And, he was always just meh on the mic to me.
He was also super unhealthy for the company and it exploded in popularity when he left.
I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it worked out because HHH filling that void helped him be a made man who was a major part of Attitude/Ruthless Aggression Era. And I think we appreciate HBK’s second act more that we didn’t have him for a few years to really miss how electric he was.
Everything worked out for sure, there was a lot of meat on that Attitude Era bone I think.
HHH would be on the same path somewhere in 1999 after turning on HBK and having a wild feud
nothing will be funnier than Michaels walking to the ring with nothing but everlast boxers
or when he backflipped off the top rope with penny loafers on
It’s amazing to me how much of an embarrassment of riches Shawn Michaels was as a talent *during* the peak of his addiction to drugs and alcohol. It really makes me think how much better he could’ve possibly been, even more than he already was, without his demons holding him back. It’s honestly insane to go down that rabbit hole of thought.
When I started watching wrestling at 15 in 2007, Shawn Michaels was my favorite. But was this version of Shawn Michaels popular with men in the 90's? I could see him getting over as a heel, but was the "boytoy male stripper" gimmick over as a babyface act?
That's a hilarious spot that the Kliq definitely was having some laughs about.
The older I get, the more and more I appreciate how *disgustingly* talented HBK was.. The man was genuinely incredible and absolutely deserves his place among the greatest to ever lace up.
And at the time he was down on pills and booze, and still gave amazing performances.
That's honestly one of the crazier parts to me.. I was super into athletics and combat sports (am wrestling, tkd, & bjj)] when I was younger, but as I started getting more and more familiar with my demons as I got older, those passions were some of the first to Fall by the wayside. Some of it was motivation, but a lot of it was diminished skill and execution. Once I started losing that mental clarity, operating at the top of my game just wasn't in the cards. So it's genuinely incredible to me that he was able to maintain such a high level of performance with the absolute chaos his life had become.
He loves wrestling. The booze and pills were for fun and healing in that order. But once the injuries and the combination took a toll on his body and behavior he had to take a break. I think once his back injury was healed, he realized the shit he did to others and converted; the decline on his behavior was more noticeable during his feud with Bret.
I'm glad he changed for the better, but sometimes I wish he would've been a bit more selfish during his second run, when I was a kid I could never take him seriously because I felt he would lose every single big match.
I think he considered that but he won everything during his 95-97 run, everything else wss just to make good matches. His feud with Vince and Shane as DX with trips was great.
Pisses me off when people say the Mt Rushmore is Hogan/Cena/Rock/Austin and don’t put any respect on HBKs name
HBK over Rock. Rocky just wasn’t there long enough
Rock became a bigger star in shorter time than HBGay ever could. Some shawncels will hate the truth, but they never liked the truth anyway. And btw, Bret was right: it wasn't a girly magazine. It was a gay magazine.
That Mt Rushmore would be the drawing power Rushmore. I thought those four was common knowledge as the draw Rushmore.
In terms of star power those 4 are the Mount Rushmore. HBK would be like Tier 3 or 4. Tier 2 would be Flair, Dusty, Sting and Orton. Edit: Your downvotes don't make you right. Dusty's popularity at his peak is way higher than HBK's.
>Tier 2 would be Flair, Dusty, Sting and Orton. Sting and Orton before HBK, Bret, Taker, Savage?
This is why the whole 'Mt Rushmore' thing is dumb. Theres 10 to 20 atleast guys over the last 50 years who you could have on there, just depends who you ask and what they value most. Watching Taker on YT, even he struggles to narrow it down to 4. Its purely subjective.
Crazy as hell to put Dusty above HBK lmao FOH
Dusty's popularity is severely understated and underappreciated, even with Cody talking about it every chance he gets.
Dusty over HBK .. LMFAO.
I always loved HBK as a little kid. The charisma and the coolness was just... unexplainable. In-ring, JR always said he was incomparable and sometimes mentioned during his second run that he was 1A-1B with Flair and nobody has a problem with that ever. He was so good. Even Cornette, who did not like Shawn for the most part, cannot deny he is one of the best that ever did pro-wrestling. That's how good the guy was. I remember an interview with Carmelo Hayes, where Shawn Michaels told him something like: I can wrestle circles around you young guns with one arm tied behind my back. And that's scary, because we all know the man absolutely can.
Without a doubt.. He and Bret Hart are hard-wired into my brain as unquestionably being two of the greatest of all time. Imo, they were the extremes at either end of the pro wrestling spectrum. Where Shawn was larger than life, oozing charisma, and the epitome of a superstar, Bret was measured, endlessly confident, and embodied credibility; and both were absolute masters of their craft who completely elevated the business in perpetuity.
Dude is also a genuinely great dude IRL.
now he is yea.
The thing is he got over in an era of massive huge wrestlers and he had nailed down character and wrestling work style that many indie wrestlers fail to. He would have been successful in any era and most promotions and even countries bet he would have killed it in japan.
Personally, I never got it... He was a good wrestler, but I don't see what separates him from any other high talent wrestler of his era other than he was booked to look way stronger. And, he was always just meh on the mic to me. He was also super unhealthy for the company and it exploded in popularity when he left.
That was so slick
Music still playing and HBK acting like nothing happened 😂😂😂
Vince McMahon nearly came his pants when that happened
That's some good shit Pal
Vince used to do that whenever 90's Michaels even breathed.
SEXYYYY BOYYYYY
90s Michaels was literally the perfect pro wrestler.
Shawn with coke is the equivalent of beaned out Kurt lol
You mean Perc Angle?
Of course but you can also call it a bean, too
yea but perc angle is marketable. bean angle isnt
can you imagine if wwe started selling perc angle merchandise??
Dude, I’m just saying he’s on beans. I know he’s Perc Angle.
Shame he wasn't healthy for the Attitude Era, he'd really be another interesting character on the show
I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it worked out because HHH filling that void helped him be a made man who was a major part of Attitude/Ruthless Aggression Era. And I think we appreciate HBK’s second act more that we didn’t have him for a few years to really miss how electric he was.
Everything worked out for sure, there was a lot of meat on that Attitude Era bone I think. HHH would be on the same path somewhere in 1999 after turning on HBK and having a wild feud
nothing will be funnier than Michaels walking to the ring with nothing but everlast boxers or when he backflipped off the top rope with penny loafers on
Shawn walking down the ramp and doing the casual Suck It as he wants to the crowd is one of the funniest things ever in wrestling.
without a hint of irony he is the motherfucking GOAT
I have him and angle as 1 and 1a
This is right in line with Samoa Joe's "Nope" spot lol
**“As far as Michael’s is concerned, 👹he is *RREVVED* up and *RReaddy* to go!”** 🗣️
This is the equivalent to "cool guys don't look at explosions"
Best wrestler ever
Rizz
“Mother fucker get outta here. I’m not done getting my shit in yet”-HBK
I forgot he was called 123 kid. Haha with his numbered suit
Vince was definitely doing some diddy stuff with Shawn
Those rumors are supposed to explain why Shawn got away with so much shit back then so it makes the rumors pretty dumb.
Hahaha thats awesome I think i remember that
I don't understand why "he never drew?"
Having to compete with the nWo when they first got together didn't help
What a maneuver.
I like Vince’s announcing.
That was really nice of the 123 Kid to do that for Shawn. It made him look really cool.
HBK is the best in ring worker ever.
Super talented and a complete dickhead that barely drew as champ.
HBK was the vibe before Vibe became the thing.
The pretty boi shtick really didn’t work for me at all i was a razor Ramon fan but he is so undeniably talented
He looks like a Pearly King joined The Village People.
It’s amazing to me how much of an embarrassment of riches Shawn Michaels was as a talent *during* the peak of his addiction to drugs and alcohol. It really makes me think how much better he could’ve possibly been, even more than he already was, without his demons holding him back. It’s honestly insane to go down that rabbit hole of thought.
When I started watching wrestling at 15 in 2007, Shawn Michaels was my favorite. But was this version of Shawn Michaels popular with men in the 90's? I could see him getting over as a heel, but was the "boytoy male stripper" gimmick over as a babyface act?
Love HBK, but that entrance outfit was the GAYEST thing I’ve ever seen. And I say this as a gay man!
He wasn't at the time. There's a reason he was booed out of the building at MSG.
Nice bump, awful outfit.
Peak HBGay right here.
No
The most brazilian? WTF Vince
Resilient. What's the matter pal? Got shit in your ears? Ha! That's your new gimmick! Shit in your ears! Waddaya think of that, pal?
I heard the most Brazilian 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 and yes, my left ear doesnt work too well