Home ▸ That Wednesday Show ▸ What Shawn Michaels meant to me…

I write this, just  minutes after watching Shawn Michaels’ last match in a wrestling ring. With a defeat to the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI, Shawn Michaels’ career ended after 25 years.

Shawn Michaels was THE guy for me. Not Hulk Hogan. Not Ric Flair. Not even Steve Austin. But Shawn Michaels. He was that one guy growing up, that I knew would be my favourite, and that every time I heard ‘Sexy Boy’, I knew something fun and exciting was about to happen. Whether he was with Diesel, or D-Generation X. I was always entertained, and amazed, by HBK.

My…worship, of Shawn Michaels didnt just resort to the television. There were two video games in particular. WWF Steel Cage Challenge for the SEGA Master System, and WWF Royal Rumble for the Genesis. I don’t know how many times Shawn Michaels won the WWF Championship on these games, and it didn’t matter who else was on them, I was always the one character.

Everyone has that one person in the world that they idolize, that they worship. Whether it’s a family member, or a sportsman, or maybe someone in your favored profession? For me, besides family. There is only one idol. Shawn Michaels in my eyes, was someone who could do no wrong, even when he was the baddest. There was nothing he couldn’t do, in and out of the ring. He was brash, cocky, always so confident in his own ability, that he didnt even think of how good the other person was. In DX, he was cool. With Triple H, D-Generation X single-handedly fueled my love for the wrestling business. Partly for their attitude and behaviour towards everyone, but mostly, because Shawn Michaels was involved.

To this day, I still get giddy inside, whenever I see Shawn Michaels, or hear that ‘Sexy Boy’ theme. To watch his last match in 1998, before taking four years off. To that speech in 1997 about losing his smile. With all the returns and great moments that Shawn Michaels has had, nothing… nothing, has given me the same feeling that the end of WrestleMania XXVI gave me. I found it hard to move, hard to type, hard to do anything. It was like Pittsburgh fans watching Mario Lemieux’s last game, or Chicago Bulls fans watching Michael Jordan sink that final shot. You hoped it would never end, and when it did, you just didn’t know how to react. That’s how I felt about Shawn Michaels.

In my opinion, he will always be the greatest performer, and the greatest superstar in the history of wrestling. There will be no-one, who comes close to Shawn Michaels. There will be no-one, who comes close to winning me over, and making me a fan for life. The business may not be the same as it was, but I will always the great matches, and memories, that Shawn Michaels gave me. Thank You Shawn. You made this little wrestling fan who he is today.

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