6 Photos of Shawn Michaels he might prefer you didn't see

He's The Icon, he's The Showstopper, he's the Main Event - he's Mr. Wrestlemania himself, Shawn Michaels!

The two-time WWE Hall of Famer is incomparable in many respects as one of the most charismatic, popular performers of his generation.

The Heartbreak Kid was a former WWE Tag Team Champion but also enjoyed one of the most storied singles careers in history, winning the WWE Championship, Intercontinental title, and European Gold to name just a few.

A founding member of the legendary D-Generation X faction, Michaels has seen it all and done even more during the course of his career. Once again, the cameras and spotlight that comes with a career in professional wrestling were there to follow his every move.

From his highs to his lows, he's been documented throughout his iconic career that began way back in the 1980s - with just a small selection of Shawn Michaels captures, we've identified six such images that, for varying reasons, he might just prefer you didn't see.

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#6. Student and the master?

Shawn Michaels with trainees - Daniel Bryan pictured furthest left

Back near the turn of the millennium, Shawn Michaels' career as an in-ring performer was over (or at least it at that point it was), following the serious back injury he sustained in early 1998 in the lead up to his WrestleMania match with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Around the same time, a young, aspiring wrestler who we'd later know in WWE as Daniel Bryan began training under the tutelage of Michaels in San Antonio, Texas. The influence Michaels had on the formative years of Bryan's development has never been denied.

While there's nothing contentious in the photo above (you can see a very young Bryan on the left-hand side), there is a slight foreshadowing involved, with the student slowly beginning to overtake the master.

While Michaels would, of course, later return to the ring to add a few more incredible matches to an already distinguished career, it's no understatement to say his work outside the ring and in the Texas Wrestling Academy was every bit as important.

#5. A very, very bright future

Is your ring gear bright enough, Shawn?

As noted, the early years of Shawn Michaels' career in WWE were spent as part of the high-flying, risk-taking tag team The Rockers, alongside his teammate, Marty Jannetty. The duo were hugely popular - not least with the ladies - and were one of the eminent tag teams of the day, the only real downside being that they never got to capture the coveted WWE Tag Team Championships.

What they did manage to establish, however, was a firm reputation for arguably having the most outrageous and daring ring gear, a style only matched by that which they showed in the ring, which was most likely the entire point.

I'll go out on a limb and say that Shawn, like the rest of us, needs to stick on a pair of shades to look back at this photo!

Full credit to the WWE seamstresses of the day, they did a mighty, mighty fine job in ensuring The Rockers were seen coming wherever the went - very, very bright futures, indeed.

#4. Friend or foe?

Shawn and Razor - but not as you may know them. [Pic: Buzzsports]

Of all the pictures we're showing of Shawn Michaels, I think this is my personal favorite.

Back in 1994, Shawn was already an established singles star and had enjoyed more than one run with the Intercontinental title. Having had to take an enforced break owing to a legitimate suspension from WWE, he was stripped of that title, which was later won by Razor Ramon.

Always adept at weaving real life into their storylines, the company had Shawn return with a case of selective memory - or denial - claiming he'd never lost that Intercontinental title, and thus was still the rightful champion.

A fantastic feud would ensue between the two, leading to memorable battles on some of the biggest stages - not least their ladder match at WrestleMania 10, where Razor managed to snare the gold and banish the Boy Toy for good - or so he thought.

This photo is an incredibly rare behind-the-scenes glimpse at the two men looking rather relaxed, presumably before one of their many battles on WWE programming back in the day.

It's not often you get to see out-of-character shots from that era, so this is one to enjoy - even if Shawn any respectable wrestler would rather not acknowledge its existence, for kayfabe if nothing else.

#3. Youth and then some

A very young Shawn Michaels in WWE action

We noted previously about Shawn's early days in professional wrestling, both in WWE and beforehand, and how he formed a part of the original incarnation of The Rockers alongside Marty Jannetty.

While it's really difficult to accurately and definitively pinpoint the date and timing of the above photo, there's a chance that it comes so early in his WWE days that it even precedes The Rockers - or at least their rise to relative prominence in WWE's tag team division - a good indicator of that is Michaels' attire.

While it's bright and colorful enough, it does lack some of the outlandish flair that became the team's trademark.

What's great about this snap is Shawn's facial expression. Granted, in the physical throws and exertion of a professional wrestling match, there will be multiple times that a camera catches a still image where a wrestler is pulling what, in isolation, looks like a less-than-flattering expression. But what's the world coming to if we can't raise a smile at some of the best of those?

#2 Letting his hair down

Shawn Michaels and some well-known friends pose for a rare, candid photo [Pic - Sean Waltman]

We noted earlier about kayfabe - the invisible bubble of characters, storylines, and authenticity that professional wrestlers work in - and there is little doubt in my mind that this next photo, above, would have represented a horrific breach of kayfabe back in the day when it was taken.

Due to the personnel in it, we're dating this photo sometime early in 1996, and it is one that came to light after being shared on social media recently.

It shows Shawn (in the red shirt, second in from the right) presumably relaxing and letting his hair down on a tour bus with a number of his cohorts.

Also pictured are the likes of Triple H, Razor Ramon, The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer slumped at the front) and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

While, at the time, it was undoubtedly intended purely as a private photo for those guys to share, it's also great that as fans, we're now able to take that occasional glimpse into the lives of these incredible performers once the cameras have stopped rolling.

#1. An amazing concept

The original concept design for Shawn Michaels' character

If you are one of the many, many fans who enjoy the behind-the-scenes minutia and detail when it comes to the world of professional wrestling, then this last image is for you.

We've spotted this incredible snap of what appears to be some original concept art for the character of Shawn Michaels. Splitting from Marty Jannetty in the early 1990s, Shawn went on to enjoy a solid singles career for a couple of years before really hitting it big as The Heartbreak Kid with feuds against the likes of Bret Hart and Razor Ramon. But it's fascinating to see the very first insights into what was planned for his first solo run before he reached such incredible levels of fame.

The designs are great and, looking back at the Michaels of, say, 1992 to 1993, it's clear to see that much of this design was incorporated into how he ended up looking and sounding - though it's fair to say there appears to be a bigger 'biker' aspect to the concepts that we never saw quite follow through to the on-screen persona.