5 times WWE blurred the line between Kayfabe and reality

#2. Shawn Michaels gets into a fight at a bar and it causes him to pass out in the ring

Owen Hart and Shawn Michaels

It's not an easy thing to type but, back in the mid-90s in WWE, Shawn Michaels was a jerk.

In 1995, Michaels was part of an incident at a bar in Syracuse, N.Y. that involved himself, Sean Waltman and Davey Boy Smith being confronted by a group of Army servicemen. The night ended with Michaels having to be treated in a local hospital for a torn eyelid, among other things.

You can read about the entire story right here.

WWE makes chicken salad out of... well... you know...

Following the incident (and the inevitable backstage politicking it produced) WWE turned it into an on-screen angle. During a match between Michaels and Owen Hart, Owen managed to strike Shawn with a step-up enziguri.

While the effects didn't - pun intended - "kick in" right away, Shawn (on screen, anyway) found himself passing out between the "beating" he took at the bar (according to WWE, Michaels found himself fighting off eight US marines) and the powerful kick by Hart.

Michaels would go on to coast on the babyface sympathy of the entire situation to win the Royal Rumble the next year. He then claimed the WWE Championship at WrestleMania following that.