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blowflyfag · 1 year ago

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Wrestling World : FEBRUARY 1995

SHAWN MICHAELS

The Cocky Kid of Wrestling

How times have changed! Shawn Michaels came into the wrestling world at the tender age of 19, and never had any intentions of breaking the rules. Now, he not only breaks the rules, he walks around claiming to be unbeatable!

By Allan Bolte

It’s difficult to imagine that it has already been nine years since young, powerful Shawn Michaels first stepped into a wrestling ring. And when he did, the then 19 year old youngster was under the guidance of Verne Gagne, the then president of the American Wrestling Alliance.

And when the baby-faced Michaels ran down the aisles toward the ring, he never was alone. Rather, he was with friend and tag-team partner Marty Jannetty. The two wrestled by all of the rules, the fans loved them, they won virtually all of their matches, and they eventually formed one of the highest rated tag teams in wrestling history known as The Midnight Rockers.

How times have changed since those early days in Minnesota. The blond haired, blue eyed athlete, still in his teens, was slowly climbing to the top of the list and his wrestling ability on the mat was more impressive than ever, with each and every match. They eventually began touring, and the two defeated bigger and better known tag teams as time marched on. Although they were smaller physically than most other pro wrestlers, they certainly more than made up for what they lacked in size with their tremendous wrestling ability and sheer ring agility. At the time, Michaels weighed only 218 pounds, had short, darker hair and wouldn’t dream of breaking a rule-let alone biting, stomping or gouging.

His relationship with Jannetty was tremendous. They eventually won the A.W.A. Tag Team Championship and retained the converted belts for more than a year, defeating opponents throughout the country in major wrestling arenas.

The crowds turned out in the thousands to see them in action. After all, there was nothing but tremendous wrestling excitement when they were on the mat and, because of that, they gained an unbelievable following. They gained some weight and muscularity, always signed autographs and smiled for the fans, and their success continued.

[The HeartBreak Kid climbs into the ring for some more high-flying action!]

In fact, it continued so fast they hardly knew what hit them. It wasn’t long before the World Wrestling Federation made a lucrative offer for them to join the big league and it sure didn’t take Michaels or Jannetty long to take them up on the offer.

Eventually the rumors were out, questions were asked and many eyebrows of executives, promoters and fans of the W.W.F. were being raised: Were The Midnight Rockers too small physically for the W.W.F.?

The “midnight” from the name was dropped and the group became known simply as “the Rockers.” Their popularity skyrocketed, they proved within a matter of a few months that they were indeed not too small, and they hit it big with a boom. They were a smash. (Regarding physical size of pro wrestlers in the W.W.F., The Rockers started a new era: next came 1-2-3 Kid, the lightest wrestler in the league, who is extremely successful as well.)

The two together defeated opponents as much as a total of 300 pounds heavier than they and this continued for several months.

Then history occurred one surprising night during a taping of W.W.F. Superstars for USA Network. At the time Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake was conducting his “Barber Shop” interview with both Rockers after the two had a falling out. During a recent tag bout, Michaels basically turned his back on Jannetty when the going got a bit rough and left him hanging to be double-teamed by their opponents.

The arguments began and Michaels appeared to be quite cocky all of a sudden. “Let’s forget about that night,” Jannetty said to Michaels. “Let’s forget these differences of opinions. We had one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling.”

Michaels insisted that he was the captain of the team always, that he was the brains and the power, that he was much greater than Jannetty.

“Let’s forget about all of that; let’s go back to being a tag team like we were,” Jannetty responded. He held out his hand for Michaels to shake-his big mistake.

Michaels shook his hand, all right, and brought his knee up to Jannetty’s groin area to the surprise of everyone. Suddenly Michaels grabbed Jannetty by the hair and threw him face first through the heavy plate glass window of the studio, opening a deep cut on his forehead, then repeatedly kicked him in the head. It was one of the most controversial instances of the year.

And out stepped the “new” Shawn Michaels, soon to become one of the most unpopular wrestlers in the WW.F. His long list of admirers couldn’t believe what had gotten into him, and where would he go from here.

“Let’s just face the facts,” Michaels said a few weeks after the incident. “It took me a while, but I’ve finally realized just how great I am. I am the best looking wrestler in the business. I am young, in great physical condition, strong, extremely fast, agile, (and) experienced. I have absolutely everything going for me. I am truly everything that a champion pro wrestler could want.”

“I’m not going to answer a lot of questions, but I have my reasons for breaking away from the tag team. Although I will continue to do tag teams from time to time, I basically want to go a solo route-sort of like rock star Phil Collins leaving the group Genesis-and I will become one of the greatest stars in wrestling.”

Those comments and incidents were more than a year ago.

Admittedly, Michaels, now 29, has lived up to his reputation. Although his hair is much longer, he has added about 15 pounds of muscularity to his body, and he still is as capable, if not more so, than ever before, Michaels still seems to be the same young athlete he was when he first started, with one major exception-his attitude, plus his new tactics in the ring.

This “New” Shawn Michaels-which by now, fans have become accustomed to-loves maiming and mauling his opponents whenever possible. Although his tactics aren't quite as sadistic as some of his colleagues, such as Diesel-his new partner in crime-regardless, he uses his elbows, feet, shoulders and arms to beat down and hurt his opponent.

When they were together as The Rockers, they were known as “the tag team specialists” and there was a reason they were called that. Their timing was perfect, their moves were excellent and they utilized many high-flying moves to get the best of their challengers.

But Michaels is quick to comment on their label. “We weren’t the tag team specialists, I was the tag team specialist-it was ALL ME. But that’s old news; the fact is, I am one of the fastest capable wrestlers in the sport. I have an excellent amateur wrestling background as well, as you can tell by my style.”

“You name the hold, no one can beat me with it. I know them all-headlocks, drop-kicks, takedowns, flying scissors, reversals, you name it. There is only one Shawn Michaels, and I am the greatest athlete who ever crossed the paths of the W.W.F. Just ask my opponents, who I usually defeat within eight minutes!”

Michaels is certainly the cockiest wrestler to grace the mat in a long time. He’s quick to admit it-in fact, he seems extremely proud of it. Or would downright conceited be the word?

“I guess that would be a good way to describe me,” Michaels told Wrestling World after a recent match in Sacramento, California. He stared at his face and hair in the mirrors for a moment, brushed his long blond locks back briefly, then continued talking.

“I have youth on my side. I rose to the top in a short period of time. I’m good looking, in excellent physical condition, I'm making big bucks and seeing the world. I’m young-hey, what more could a person of my position want? The sky’s the limit. And if people (don’t) like it they can lump it. Then they’re the ones with the problem, not me.”

“I don’t mind it when people say I’m snotty, stuck up, conceited, whatever you want to call it. In fact, deep inside, I kind of like it.”

“I’ve always been kind of cocky, and I enjoy being the center of attention. I like that old saying, ‘I don’t care what you call me, just call me in time for dinner and payday.’ “The truth is, anyone who is my position today would be cocky, too. They just couldn’t help it.”

Michaels unwrapped a piece of bubble gum and popped it into his mouth, chewing it and occasionally cracking it as he talked. “I’m probably about the only wrestler who can wrestle and win his match, all while still chewing his gum-I’m that good,” he added. “And here’s another thing; look how fast it was that O became host of the weekly W.W.F. interview portion of the show-not very long! And the show is very appropriately named “The Heartbreak Hotel,” because I truly am the heartbreak kid!”

“Women fall in love with me quickly; men envy and are jealous of me; promoters are always after me because I draw a big crowd; bankers want to do business with me; the only problem I see coming up this winter will bed the fact that I’m literally running out of opponents to beat. And they’re becoming afraid to step into the ring with me. Well, I can't say that I blame them.”

His actions and ring style somewhat imitate those of Perfect, Curt Henning-the cockiness, gum chewing, athletic wrestling ability. Currently, his buddy relationship with Diesel, the tall, huge, musclebound gladiator, is becoming quite controversial.

[Shawn struts his stuff in the ring!]

These two get into plenty of trouble when they’re in the ring, and they seldom aren’t in the company of each other. Diesel recently had a match against Virgil, former bodyguard of Ted DiBiase., Million Dollar Man, and Michaels accompanied Diesel to ringside, as his “manager.”

Fans knew better. Diesel and Virgil had an interesting match for a few minutes then after holding Virgil up in a choke hold he dropped him near where Michaels stood outside of the ring by the mat. Diesel attracted the referee’s attention while Michaels began choking Virgil with a rope.

Similar incidents like this continued, On another occasion, it appeared that Virgil had the upper hand and he ran into the ropes for leverage, in preparation for an attack on Diesel, when the sly Michaels from behind reached out his hand and tripped Virgil and quickly Diesel began putting the boots to him.

That wasn’t the end of it. Virgil a few minutes later was able to pick up his heavy, powerful, 6-8 opponent high up into the air for a body slam, which could have finished the match, when quickly Michaels from outside climbed on his knee to the apron and pushed Virgil forward, which knocked him off his feet and Diesel came crashing down on top of him. Needless to say, the three count took place and Diesel was the winner.

[Michaels has shown an ability to beat much bigger and more powerful opponents.]

Naturally, when the fans screamed about Michaels’ illegal interference he totally denied any wrongdoings. “Why would I do something like that?” he innocently asked with a baby faced expression appearing on his face. “I would never do anything like that!” As Diesel also pleaded to the referee that he didn’t do anything wrong, Michaels, the innocent young athlete that he professes to be, took advantage of the opportunity and stomped Virgil twice on the chest, than spat out his gum on Virgil’s face, adding insult to injury.

The same is true when it’s the other way around-when Michaels is in the ring wrestling, often Diesel accompanies him to ringside, too, as his “manager.” As could be expected, Diesel also throws in a helping hand whenever the going gets a bit too much. And with two against one, it usually results in another victory for them.

During the last six months, Michaels’ ring attire has become quite colorful-from shiny laced boots-to shiny lace and suede ring attire and let’s not forget the dark sunglasses. He is quite colorful from head to toe.

“I guess all I need now is a few head bandanas to cover my handsome head of hair, but then again, I might use it to choke an opponent” Michaels added, laughing and spitting out his gum.

The question remain: will Shawn and Jannetty ever get back together again; and will, more currently, he and Diesel go after the converted tag team belts?

A hurt look crossed his face. “It’s nobody’s business but mine as to why my plans are. I’ll say this much-I’ve gone on to bigger and better things. If I were to have a permanent tag partner, Diesel would be the man because he’s big, strong, rugged, and he thinks a lot like me. But as for now, I’m not making any predictions. I’ve made no mistakes on my quest to climbing to the top of the wrestling world, I know that much.”

Recently, Michaels was asked about his opinion of Tugboat, the former rag partner of Earthquake (The Natural Disasters). “He’s just a big fat slob,” Michaels said. “I know he’s fast for his size, the fans like him, he knows how to wrestle, he has done well, all of that stuff, but I wouldn’t give him the time of day. I could beat him in a matter of minutes.”

Interestingly enough, Michaels found himself opposing the big Tugboat during a recent televised match of “Monday Night RAW” and naturally, Diesel accompanied him to ringside and made a few outside interferences which caused Michaels to win the match.

Michaels attracted the referee's attention while Diesel slammed a steel chair over Tugboat’s head, knocking him to the ground. Michaels quickly leaped on top of him for the three count, and to avoid throwing him off, Diesel held down Michaels’ foot on top of Tugboat’s and assisted him in another victory.

Michaels was all smiles as his hand was raised in token of another victory. He and Diesel shook hands and hugged, slapping each other on the back before they each kicked Tugboat again as they left the ring.

Back in the dressing room, after taking a shower, Michaels flexed his muscles in front of the mirror then began combing his hair. “Another victory for me, tonight. What else is new?” He asked. “Everything I have done is planned out; all of the successes have happened for a reason. And my climb to the top isn’t over either. Who knows? Someday I could become the most handsome champion ever in wrestling!”

A moment later Diesel poked his head in and interrupted the conversation. “Michaels, come on, let’s grab a taxi and head out: I’m ready for a huge steak dinner,” Diesel said.

“You got it,” Michaels said, “and how about a few pretty blonds to join us?”

[Shawn in his glory-when he reigned as Intercontinental champion.]

#wwf #shawn michaels #world wrestling federation #heartbreak kid #hbk #magazine scan #magazine transcript #Wrestling World #Wrestling World 1990s #1990s #1995

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