5 WWE Superstars who held positions of authority that you probably don't remember

#5 Shawn Michaels

I’m surprised they didn’t use HBK’s return to WWE as a means of taking more jabs at Bret Hart.

HBK, one of the greatest wrestlers to ever set foot in a wrestling ring, also enjoyed a tenure as WWF Commissioner between 1998 and 2000. This was done to keep him relevant without having him actually wrestle a match, which he still couldn’t do because of his back problems at the time.

In this role, Shawn was the typical, power-abusing authority figure that did whatever he could because he had the power to do so. While his appearances during this two-year period were sporadic, he did make his presence felt whenever he did appear. It was common for Michaels to create matches that usually benefitted heels over babyfaces, making changes to match stipulations, and on a few occasions, he even decided a match result, simply because he could.

To many people, Michaels’ role was largely symbolic and in some respects, he acted as a mere placeholder for Vince (this is the same reason why, in today’s WWE, some people question the need for on-screen authority figures when everyone knows it’s Vince McMahon and his inner circle that make all the big decisions).

Additionally, Shawn’s run as Commissioner wasn’t a single, straight run in which he kept the role without interruption. Because of his tendency to appear and then disappear due to his various surgeries and other commitments, his run didn’t have that much of an impact on WWE programming in general.

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