5 career turning moments for Shawn Michaels

Ask any wrestling fan to name their top 5 or 10 wrestlers of all time and no doubt you will hear Shawn Michaels mentioned. He might not have defined a generation in the way Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin did, but Shawn was always able to appeal to a wide variety of fans.

His in-ring work and showmanship would often combine to the sheer delight of fans across the world. His career has not been a perfect one. He will be the first to admit that his history of drug abuse and a less than endearing personality have overshadowed him as a performer. But in the midst of all the chaos, the Heartbreak Kid has been able to provide us with some truly memorable moments.

Here is a look at 5 key turning moments for the career of Shawn Michaels:

#1 Teaming with Marty Jannetty

Shawn Michaels may be known primarily as a 'WWF/E guy' - even staying with the company throughout their darkest period in the mid-90s - but his pre-WWF career in the 80s wasn't exactly unworthy of note either. Shawn began his long stint in wrestling as a tag-team competitor, lighting up tag divisions across the country with his partner Marty Jannetty.

The two met whilst wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling, a Texas territory of the NWA where they also picked up their first championship belts together. The pair would meet again a few years later, this time as part of the American Wrestling Alliance (AWA) calling themselves 'The Midnight Rockers, where their rivalry with Buddy Rose and Doug Somers would become the stuff of legend.

The team were then called up to WWF but only lasted a year before being fired for an incident at a bar where, according to Michaels himself, they allegedly 'tore the place up'. Thankfully for generations of wrestling fans, the Rockers were resigned by the WWF in 1988 and fitted in well with the stacked tag-division in the company at the time.

Despite Michaels going on to win the WWF/E Tag Team Championships on five separate occasions throughout his career, not one of those reigns happened as part of the Rockers, at least not officially. The team did defeat the Hart Foundation in an untaped house show, but the victory was not recognised by the company after the Harts were awarded their belts back after Jim Neidhart changed his mind and decided to stay with the WWF.

Because of Shawn's storied single's career, he is not generally remembered for being a pioneer of tag-team wrestling, but for thousands of young fans back in the 80 and early 90s, the partnership between Michaels and Jannetty was a hugely significant affair. Even after you discount what the pairing eventually led to, you still cannot deny their place in WWF/E folklore.

#2 The barbershop incident

The Rockers were a consistently strong part of the WWF's impressive roster throughout much of the late 80s and early 90s, but as the old saying goes, you just cannot keep good talent from rising to the top. Shawn had clearly outgrown his partnership by the time 1991 came around and it was time to set his sights on a singles career.

During an edition of 'The Barbershop', a TV-style segment hosted by Brutus Beefcake similar to Piper's Pit, Shawn turned on his partner, superkicking him out of nowhere and smashing his face through the barbershop window. Breaking up a tag-team in this fashion is a move we have seen the WWF do on multiple occasions over the years, and while Shawn and Marty were not the first to do it, this will always feature highly on the all time greatest heel turns the company has done.

The occasion was made even more satisfying with Bobby Heenan on commentary, responding to Michaels' actions with approval stating 'I knew he was gonna do that!'

Fans couldn't possibly have known just what kind of a career the future WWF Champion was going to have, but they knew the timing was right and that they were in for at least a good few months of seeing these two compete against each other.

As much as the barbershop incident launched Shawn onto bigger and better things, the occasion also marks probably the last notable moment of Marty Jannetty's career, despite him going on to win the IC Championship a few years later. For one reason or another, Jannetty would not feature prominently in the future plans of the WWF.

Even today, tag teams will often measure themselves on who is the Shawn Michaels of the pair and who is the Marty Jannetty.

#3 The Montreal Screwjob

Shawn Michaels's singles career can be divided into two parts, each separated by a four-year injury. After betraying Marty Jannetty and leaving the Rockers in his wake, Shawn became a prominent part of the WWF's mid-card division, earning his first PPV singles match at Wrestlemania 8 against Tito Santana. He also went through a dramatic image change, leaving behind the child-pleasing bright colours and tassels and becoming the arrogant, egotistical 'Heartbreak Kid'.

Shawn's career began to take off during a time in which the company as a whole were going through a slight depression. With the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Andre and others leaving the WWF, it was left to guys like Michaels and Bret Hart to carry the company forward. From 1994, the WWF started to embrace the 'New Generation' in an attempt to showcase more athletic, technically gifted wrestlers in place of the old cartoonish behemoths of the Hogan era.

Undoubtedly the most important rivalry of the WWF New Generation was between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, two men who had earned their stripes as tag-team wrestlers and were now vying for ultimate supremacy in the main event scene. They first met at Survivor Series 1992, a match that saw Shawn failed to capture Bret's WWF Championship. The pair would eventually lock horns again at Wrestlemania 12, this time ending in victory for HBK after a gruelling 60-minute Iron Man Match.

As the onscreen rivalry was growing, so too was the backstage animosity. What started as a clash of egos soon led to an ugly exchange of insults and personal attacks. In subsequent interviews, the pair have both spoken about the difficulty they faced having to work with each other.

The rivalry came to ahead at the 1997 Survivor Series PPV. With Bret set to leave for WCW, WWF owner Vince McMahon hatched a scheme to remove the WWF Championship from Bret without his knowledge. Shawn's involvement in the screwjob has long been debated, but what few can deny is that Michaels probably revelled at the opportunity to stick one last nail in the coffin of his long term adversary.

As far as Shawn is concerned, the Screwjob effectively allowed him to spread his wings as the company's top heel, forming the villainous, but highly popular, D-Generation X with Triple H. While he was not directly involved, it was Shawn's approach to sports entertainment throughout 1997 and 98 that, in some ways, brought about the Attitude Era.

#4 Summerslam 2002

It is a cruel irony of WWE history that one of its greatest in-ring performers and innovators of its much-needed change of direction in the late 90s was not around to enjoy the fruits of its most successful era. Shawn Michaels was forced to take time off due to an injury suffered at the Royal Rumble 1998 which was exacerbated by his Wrestlemania 14 main event against Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Many feared the worst, that Shawn's time in the ring was over for good. Year after year passed by with fans slowly forgetting the contributions he had made. But in 2002, despite making several returns in backstage, supporting roles, Shawn and the WWE made the highly welcomed announcement that he would be returning to the ring.

In kayfabe terms, a heated rivalry had formed between Shawn and his old DX partner Triple H, who had enjoyed huge success in HBK's absence. Triple H was the ideal opponent for Shawn, somebody who knew how to be a true ring general when the situation called for it and understood the extent to his Michaels's injuries.

Despite such a long time away, HBK's first match back went down as one of the greatest Summerslam bouts of all time. It was as if Shawn had never been away and now that the WWE was beginning to settle down after a chaotic Attitude Era, Shawn's wrestling abilities were exactly what they needed to go forward into the new century.

This match could have easily gone the wrong way, perhaps resulting in further injury or maybe an underwhelming response from the crowd. Luckily for us, neither of these things happened and Shawn was allowed to pick up where he left off.

#5 Wrestlemanias 25 and 26

In many ways, the careers of Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker have mirrored each other. Both began at a similar time in an era that brought about much of the WWF's greatest amount of success. Following this, both men were tasked with carrying the company through the difficult period following the departure of Hogan and other 80s stars.

While Taker enjoyed much more of the spotlight during the Attitude Era, both had their own problems with injury. By the time 2004 came around, with Shawn now firmly re-established following his absence and Taker once again embracing his Deadman gimmick, the two were free to concentrate on putting on solid wrestling matches, allowing a younger generation to do most of the heavy lifting.

By 2009, and with Wrestlemania 25 in the WWE's sights, the ultimate stage was set. Taker had still not been beaten at the Show of Shows but he was about to face an individual who refers to himself as 'Mr Wrestlemania'. Taker had also never beaten Shawn in one on one competition, so for many of us, we really thought the streak was in serious jeopardy.

Shawn was not successful that night, but the two legends still put on arguably the greatest Wrestlemania match of all time. Wrestlemania 25 is essentially remembered for it and it had the WWE Universe talking for months and months to come.

One year later, at Wrestlemania 26, the company decided that a rematch was the only viable option for them both. Taker's career was now defined by his streak, and Shawn's career was defined by his attempts to end it. The decision was made to put Shawn's career on the line, and after one high-impact Tombstone, Shawn Michaels was counted into retirement, thus ending over 20 years of sheer in-ring brilliance and mastery.

These two matches were so crucial to the career of Shawn Michaels because they allowed us all to remember HBK in the way he should be remembered. The man has fought many demons over the years, but whatever happened, nothing could take away his talent for wrestling and showmanship. He really couldn't have asked for a better end to his career.

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Edited by anirudh.b