National Wrestling Alliance territories (1984–1985) Hickenbottom began to train under Mexican professional wrestler
José Lothario. During his training, Hickenbottom adopted the ring name, "Shawn Michaels". In January 1985, he debuted for
World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), the NWA territory in
Dallas, Texas. In April 1985, Michaels went to work for another NWA territory in Kansas City called
Central States Wrestling. There, he and tag team partner
Marty Jannetty defeated The Batten Twins for the
NWA Central States Tag Team Championship, later losing it back to the Battens. During his time with TASW, Michaels replaced
Nick Kiniski in the
American Breed tag team, teaming with
Paul Diamond. Michaels and Diamond were awarded the
TASW Tag Team Championship by
Chavo Guerrero Sr. While in TASW, Michaels and Diamond feuded with
Japanese Force.
American Wrestling Association (1986–1987) in 1987, known together as "
the (Midnight) Rockers" during their time as
AWA World Tag Team Champions Michaels made his national-level debut, as Sean Michaels, at the age of 20 in the
American Wrestling Association (AWA), in a victory over Buddhakhan on ESPN. He was once again teamed with Marty Jannetty, billed as
The Midnight Rockers. The Midnight Rockers won the
AWA World Tag Team Championship, defeating
Doug Somers and
Buddy Rose.
Return to the WWF/E The Rockers (1988–1992) The Rockers redebuted at a WWF
live event on July 7, 1988. Due to WWF chairman
Vince McMahon's desire to have his performers carry WWF-exclusive ring names, Michaels and Jannetty were renamed, as simply
The Rockers. During this time, Michaels headlined his first pay-per-view for the WWF when The Rockers were involved in the 4-on-4
Survivor Series match main event of
Survivor Series on November 23, 1989, which they won. On October 30, 1990, The Rockers unofficially won the
WWF Tag Team Championship from
The Hart Foundation (
Bret Hart and
Jim Neidhart), as Neidhart, half of the championship team, was in the process of negotiating his release from the company. Michaels
superkicked Jannetty and
threw him through a
glass window on the set of Beefcake's talk show. Jannetty returned to the WWF the following year and enjoyed moderate success before leaving the company in 1994, while Michaels became a prominent villain of the early to mid-1990s as "The Boy Toy". He was put together with mirror-carrying
manager,
Sensational Sherri, who according to the storyline had become infatuated with him. acted as Michaels's on-air bodyguard and
tag team partner for two
championship reigns. At
WrestleMania VIII on April 5, 1992, Michaels defeated
Tito Santana in his first pay-per-view singles match after both men had simultaneously eliminated each other from that year's
Royal Rumble. Michaels subsequently became a contender to the promotion's singles titles and failed to win the
WWF Championship from champion
Randy Savage in his first opportunity to compete for that title at British event
UK Rampage, held on April 19 at the
Sheffield Arena and broadcast on
Sky Movies Plus (the match later aired in the US on the edition of June 15 of
Prime Time Wrestling). Michaels was also unable to win the
Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart in the WWF's first
ladder match at a
Wrestling Challenge taping on July 21, which was subsequently made available on multiple
Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases. However, he won the title from
The British Bulldog on ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI'', which aired on November 14. He faced Hart for the WWF Championship at
Survivor Series on November 25, but lost the match. Originally the secondary main event, Michaels and Hart became the primary main event after
The Ultimate Warrior was unable to compete and was replaced by Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig) in the tag team match that involved Randy Savage against the team of
Ric Flair and
Razor Ramon. During this time, Michaels and Sherri split and he engaged himself in a feud with former tag team partner Marty Jannetty. On WWF programs, his suspension was explained by his having neglected to defend the title often enough. After turning down
World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s advances, Michaels returned to the WWF and made several appearances in the
United States Wrestling Association (USWA) during a WWF/USWA cross-promotion. He returned on November 24 at
Survivor Series, substituting for
Jerry Lawler, who was dealing with legal issues, in a match pitting himself and three of Lawler's "Knights" against the Hart brothers, Bret,
Bruce,
Keith and
Owen. In 1994, Michaels entered a
rivalry with Razor Ramon, who had won the vacant Intercontinental Championship during Michaels's absence. Since Michaels had never been defeated in the ring for the title, he claimed to be the rightful champion and even carried around his old title belt. On August 28, Michaels and Diesel won the WWF Tag Team Championship from
The Headshrinkers (
Samu and
Fatu). The next day at
SummerSlam, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ramon when Michaels accidentally superkicked Diesel. Michaels won the
Royal Rumble on January 22, 1995, which set up a championship grudge match on April 2 at
WrestleMania XI against Diesel (who had gone on to win the WWF Championship from
Bob Backlund). and was attacked by Sid the following night. This would result in him becoming a
fan favorite. After this, Michaels took time off This led to a title defense against Razor Ramon on August 27 at
SummerSlam in a ladder match, which Michaels won. Michaels's fan base was later nicknamed "The Kliq" as an inside reference to the real "Kliq". In October 1995, Michaels was the victim of a legitimate assault outside a bar in
Syracuse, New York. who in turn Douglas lost the championship to Razor Ramon, another member of the Kliq. During a match with
Owen Hart on a November episode of
Raw, Hart performed an
enzuigiri that struck the back of Michaels's head. They continued the match, but Michaels collapsed in the ring, supposedly because he had suffered a concussion. Around this time, Jose Lothario became Michaels's on-screen manager. At WrestleMania XII on March 31, Michaels defeated WWF Champion Bret Hart in the overtime of their sixty-minute
Iron Man match, which had ended in a scoreless tie. As Diesel and Helmsley were seen as villains at the time, in contrast to Michaels and Ramon, this constituted a breach of "
kayfabe", as acting out of character, which was rare and controversial at the time. but recaptured the title on January 19, 1997, at
Royal Rumble. On a special episode of
Raw dubbed
Thursday Raw Thursday, Michaels vacated the WWF Championship. After consulting with
Dr. James Andrews, who concluded that he did not need surgery, Michaels underwent four weeks of physical therapy and returned to in-ring action a few months later, briefly teaming with
Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. In his autobiography, Michaels discusses his real-life feud with Bret Hart, claiming that Hart did interviews on live television claiming that Michaels was faking his whole injury. By the spring of 1997, the real-life backstage conflict between Michaels and Hart was reaching its height. Both men were going out on television and frequently making personal, true to heart remarks about one another. Michaels briefly left the WWF in June of that year after a real backstage fight with Hart, just hours before a
Raw Is War show, which allegedly resulted from Michaels making an on-air remark, known as the "Sunny Days" comment, implying that Hart (who was married at the time) was having an affair with
Tammy Sytch, a manager and valet who was signed to the WWF as Sunny. Michaels and Austin were still WWF Tag Team Champions at the time during an ongoing feud with the Hart Foundation and a tournament was made to decide new tag team champions. Michaels eventually returned that summer in July. At
SummerSlam on August 3, Michaels officiated the WWF Championship match between WWF Champion
The Undertaker and Bret Hart. The match ended controversially, with Michaels hitting The Undertaker with a chair (unintentionally, as he was aiming for Hart after he spat in his face). The fans at the event were so upset at the result of the match they booed Michaels out of the building to the extent that they littered the ring with garbage, cementing his second heel turn. With this win, Michaels became the first
Grand Slam Champion. In the fall, Michaels joined forces with real-life friend Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later known as Triple H), Helmsley's then real-life girlfriend
Chyna, and
Rick Rude to form the
stable D-Generation X (DX). Michaels continued his rivalry with Bret Hart and his reformed
Hart Foundation, which was now a pro-Canada stable. Michaels taunted the group and Canada by engaging in acts such as blowing his nose with and humping the
Canadian Flag. Michaels later claimed the flag desecration was Hart's idea. Michaels's feud with the Hart Foundation culminated in a WWF Championship match at
Survivor Series on November 9 against Hart. Michaels came out of this match, dubbed by fans the "
Montreal Screwjob", as the WWF Champion. Michaels now held both the WWF and European championships at the same time. Michaels dropped the European Championship to DX member Hunter Hearst Hemsley in a
farcical match.
First retirement and hiatus (1998–2002) On January 18, 1998, at the
Royal Rumble, in a
casket match against The Undertaker, Michaels took a
back body drop to the outside of the ring and hit his lower back on the
casket, causing him to
herniate two discs and crush one completely. Michaels went on to win the match After being away for nearly four months, Michaels made a surprise return to the WWF as a guest commentator on the July 13 episode of
Raw Is War. Michaels continued to make non-wrestling appearances on WWF programming and on November 23 he replaced
Sgt. Slaughter as the
WWF Commissioner, eventually joining Vince McMahon's group of wrestlers called
The Corporation. Throughout late 1998 and early 1999, Michaels made regular television appearances on
Raw, in which he scheduled matches, throwing around his authority, and sometimes even deciding the outcome of matches. On the January 4, 1999, episode of
Raw Is War, Michaels re-joined DX as a face, but disappeared from WWF television for a few weeks to have back surgery and by the time he returned DX was on the way of dissolving within the next couple of months. On November 23, 1999, Michaels made a special appearance for
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling at the
10th Anniversary Show at the
Yokohama Arena, serving as the guest referee for the
H vs
fake Hayabusa (Mr. Gannosuke) main event. He got involved in the match when Gannosuke delivered a low blow on him and he responded later on with
Sweet Chin Music. Michaels made occasional appearances as the WWF Commissioner during the spring and summer of 1999, but remained absent from television after August until May 15, 2000, when he returned on
Raw Is War to declare himself the special guest referee for
The Rock and Triple H's Iron Man match at
Judgment Day. One month later, Michaels briefly reappeared on
Raw Is War to hand over the role of Commissioner to
Mick Foley. After one more appearance on October 9 cutting a promo with Foley on behalf The Rock, Michaels took a long hiatus from the WWE until June 2002. He was due to return to wrestle in the next year but had to take more than a year off to recover from his drug or painkiller issues, and returned in 2002 after attending a
bible study and undergoing a successful rehabilitation treatment. He appeared briefly on television to make a speech at
WWF New York during
Armageddon on December 10, 2000. On April 4, 2000, Michaels returned to wrestling for a one-night appearance defeating
Paul Diamond in a bunkhouse brawl at Texas Wrestling Entertainment. Believing that his wrestling career was over, Michaels was interested in training individuals who wanted to become professional wrestlers. He saw potential in using his name and opened the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy (later the
Texas Wrestling Academy) in 1999, after his
lawyer Skip McCormick suggested the idea. After the nWo had disbanded, Triple H appeared to make amends with Michaels. This was solidified when Michaels pleaded Triple H to return to
Raw. Continuing the angle, in his first WWE match since WrestleMania XIV, Michaels defeated Triple H at
SummerSlam on August 25, but was attacked by Triple H with a
sledgehammer after the match. At
Survivor Series on November 17, Michaels won the
World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in the first
Elimination Chamber match. On December 15 at
Armageddon, he lost the championship to Triple H in a
Three Stages of Hell match. at
WrestleMania XIX in March 2003 was his first match at a WrestleMania event since
WrestleMania XIV in March 1998. Michaels then began a rivalry with
Chris Jericho, after Jericho claimed that he was the next Shawn Michaels. On the January 13, 2003 episode of
Raw, after Jericho won a
battle royal to select his entry number for the
Royal Rumble match, choosing number two in order to start the match with Michaels, who had already been named number one. At the
Royal Rumble on January 19, Jericho, with the help of
Christian, eliminated Michaels. Michaels later interfered in the match, causing Jericho to be eliminated. Michaels defeated Jericho on March 30 at
WrestleMania XIX but was low-blowed after hugging Jericho. At
Backlash on April 27, Michaels lost to the team of Jericho, Triple H and
Ric Flair in a 6-man tag team. This led to a match between Michaels and Flair at
Bad Blood on June 15, which Flair won. Following this, Michaels continued feuding with the members of Triple H's faction Evolution. He was unsuccessful in capturing the World Heavyweight Championship at
SummerSlam on August 24 with Triple H retaining in the second Elimination Chamber match. He then lost to
Randy Orton at
Unforgiven on September 21. At
Armageddon on December 14, Michaels defeated the group's enforcer
Batista. On the December 29 episode of
Raw, Michaels seemingly defeated Triple H after a Sweet Chin Music for the World Heavyweight Championship in his hometown of
San Antonio, Texas, with
Eric Bischoff as the special guest referee (Earl Hebner originally refereed the match, only to be knocked out by Triple H in the middle of the match). However, Bischoff reversed the decision due to both men's shoulders being on the mat. Angered by this, Michaels attacked Ric Flair and Bischoff. He was subsequently fired by Bischoff but rehired by Stone Cold Steve Austin. As a part of an ongoing feud with Triple H, the two competed alongside
Chris Benoit in the main event on March 14, 2004, at
WrestleMania XX for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Benoit won. The night before this, Michaels inducted Tito Santana in the WWE Hall of Fame. A triple threat WrestleMania rematch for the title took place on April 18 at
Backlash, where Benoit successfully retained it after forcing Michaels to submit to a Sharpshooter. Due to the "Montreal Screwjob" incident, the
Edmonton crowd booed Michaels, with chants of "You screwed Bret!" being heard during his match at Backlash. At
Bad Blood on June 13, Michaels lost to Triple H in the longest Hell in a Cell match in history. Following this, Michaels was out of action for a few months with a
legit torn
meniscus.
D-Generation X reunion (2005–2007) At the
Royal Rumble on January 30, 2005, after losing to Edge, Michaels competed in the Royal Rumble match and eliminated
Kurt Angle. In seeking revenge, Angle re-entered the ring and eliminated Michaels, and thus placed him in an
ankle lock submission hold, outside the ring. Michaels issued a challenge to Angle for a match at
WrestleMania 21, which Angle accepted when he appeared on
Raw to attack Michaels. The following week on
Raw, Marty Jannetty and Michaels had a one time reunion as The Rockers and defeated
La Résistance (
Robért Conway and
Sylvain Grenier). Three days later on
SmackDown!, Angle defeated Jannetty, after Angle made Jannetty submit to the ankle lock. To send a "message" to Michaels, Angle also humiliated Michaels's former manager, Sensational Sherri, when he applied the ankle lock hold on her. At WrestleMania on April 3, Angle defeated Michaels by submission, again with an ankle lock. On the April 11 episode of
Raw, Michaels approached
General Manager Eric Bischoff, in which he demanded a
handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused to schedule such a match and instead told Michaels to find a partner. Michaels then made a plea for
Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him. On the April 18 episode of
Raw, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to save Michaels and accept his offer. At
Backlash on May 1, Hogan and Michaels defeated Hassan and Daivari. Later, in a WrestleMania rematch, Michaels defeated Kurt Angle (who was drafted to Raw in the
draft lottery) on June 26 at
Vengeance. On the July 4 episode of
Raw, after defeating
Carlito and Kurt Angle, Michaels hit Hogan with his
Sweet Chin Music, knocking Hogan to the ground and turning heel. The following week on
Raw, Michaels appeared on ''
Piper's Pit where he superkicked Roddy Piper and then challenged Hogan to a match at SummerSlam, which Hogan accepted the following week. Hogan defeated Michaels at SummerSlam on August 21, and after the match Michaels extended his hand to him, saying "I needed to know, and I found out" and he and Hogan shook hands. Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd, turning face once again. He became the first person to cleanly defeat Chris Masters on September 18 at Unforgiven with Sweet Chin Music
. On the October 3 WWE Homecoming episode of Raw'', he wrestled old rival Kurt Angle to a 2–2 draw in a
30-Minute Iron Man match. Afterwards, he challenged Angle to sudden-death overtime, but Angle refused and walked out. He was part of Team Raw at
Survivor Series on November 27, but lost the match to Team SmackDown!. On the December 26 episode of
Raw, Vince McMahon lauded Michaels for his part in the "
Montreal Screwjob". Michaels said he was only being loyal to his company, he had moved on, and McMahon should move on as well. McMahon then began setting unusual stipulations for Michaels' matches and interfering on behalf of Michaels' opponents. On January 29, 2006, at the
Royal Rumble, McMahon made his way to the ring, and as Michaels stared at McMahon,
Shane McMahon made a surprise appearance to eliminate Michaels. On the February 13 episode of
Raw, McMahon unsuccessfully forced Michaels to sign retirement papers. The following week, Jannetty refused McMahon's offer and instead took Chris Masters's "
Masterlock challenge." Michaels tried to help Jannetty, which ultimately resulted in Shane attacking Michaels and forcing him to kiss his father's behind. Despite interference from the Spirit Squad and Shane, Michaels defeated McMahon on April 2 at
WrestleMania 22 in a
No Holds Barred match. At
Backlash on April 30,
The McMahons (Vince and Shane) defeated Michaels and "
God" with help from the Spirit Squad in a no disqualification tag team match. On the May 22 episode of
Raw, the Spirit Squad was scripted to injure Michaels's knee. This angle was written so Michaels could have surgery on his knee, which had been legitimately injured for some time. and Michaels as DX in 2006In 2006, a series of events took place which suggested a reunion of Michaels and Triple H as DX. They began at WrestleMania 22, where both Michaels and Triple H performed the crotch chop during their matches. On June 25 at
Vengeance, DX defeated the Spirit Squad in a 5–on–2
handicap match. They also defeated the Spirit Squad on July 15 at ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII'' in a 5-on-2 elimination match and defeated The McMahons on August 20 at
SummerSlam. At
Unforgiven on September 17, DX defeated the McMahons and
ECW World Champion The Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match, ending the feud. At
Cyber Sunday on November 5, DX lost to
Rated-RKO (Edge and
Randy Orton) after fan-selected referee Eric Bischoff allowed the illegal use of a steel chair to give Rated-RKO the ill-gotten win and the plaudit of being the first tag team to defeat DX in a tag team match since their reformation in June 2006. On November 26 at
Survivor Series, Team DX emerged victorious against Team Rated-RKO in a clean sweep victory. At
New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, Triple H suffered a
legit torn right
quadriceps during their match with Rated-RKO. Rated-RKO claimed victory over DX, citing Triple H's injury, as the "end" of DX. On the January 15 episode of
Raw, Michaels lived up to his word of "dealing" with Rated-RKO, from his comments the previous week before, when he took out Randy Orton with a
con-chair-to after a handicap match against Edge and Orton. At the
Royal Rumble on January 28, Michaels was the last man eliminated in the Royal Rumble match by the winner of the match, The Undertaker.
Various feuds and championship pursuits (2007–2009) on an episode of
Raw in 2007 On the January 29 episode of
Raw, Michaels captured the
World Tag Team Championship with WWE Champion
John Cena after defeating Rated-RKO. At
WrestleMania 23 on April 1, Cena retained the WWE Championship against Michaels after making him submit to the
STFU. The next night on
Raw, Michaels and Cena competed in two back-to-back ten team battle royals, winning the first and losing the World Tag Team Championship in the second to
The Hardys (
Matt and
Jeff) when Michaels threw Cena over the top rope. Michaels faced off with Cena, Edge and Randy Orton in a
fatal four-way match on April 29 at
Backlash for the WWE Championship, where Cena retained the title after Michaels performed Sweet Chin Music on Cena, causing him to fall on Orton for the pinfall. Michaels then entered a feud with Randy Orton when Orton claimed that he could beat Michaels. The week before their scheduled match on May 20 at
Judgment Day, after Michaels won a match against then-
World Heavyweight Champion Edge, Orton attacked him by
punting Michaels in the head. Michaels collapsed during their match, causing Orton to win by referee stoppage. Michaels made his return on the October 8 episode of
Raw, performing Sweet Chin Music to newly crowned WWE Champion Randy Orton during his title ceremony at the end of the show and then celebrating over the knocked-out champion as Vince McMahon watched. On October 28 at
Cyber Sunday, Michaels was voted by the fans to face Orton for the WWE Championship, though he won via disqualification when Orton hit Michaels with a
low blow, which resulted in Orton retaining the championship. Michaels got another opportunity at the WWE Championship, when he was granted his rematch against Orton on November 18 at
Survivor Series. In their match, Michaels was banned from using Sweet Chin Music upon request by Orton, referring to as Michaels superkicking Orton week after week. Michaels lost the match, when Orton performed an RKO for the win, which ended their feud. Afterwards,
Batista confronted Michaels about his actions at WrestleMania, calling him selfish and egotistical. On April 27 at
Backlash, with Chris Jericho as the
guest referee, Michaels defeated Batista. Jericho then confronted Michaels, in which he admitted to faking a knee injury in order to defeat Batista. Michaels defeated Jericho on May 18 at
Judgment Day. At
One Night Stand on June 1, Michaels lost to Batista in a
stretcher match. On the June 9 episode of
Raw, Michaels was attacked by Chris Jericho during his talk show segment,
The Highlight Reel, being thrown directly through a television screen. The following week, it was revealed that, within the context of the storyline, Michaels had suffered a detached retina. On July 20 at
The Great American Bash, Jericho defeated Michaels by referee stoppage after assaulting Michaels's eyes. On the August 25 episode of
Raw, Michaels renounced his retirement and challenged Jericho to an unsanctioned match at
Unforgiven on September 7, which Jericho accepted. The next week, they had a contract signing for the match and were involved in a brawl, causing a legitimate small triceps tear for Michaels. He was medically cleared to compete at Unforgiven, and beat Jericho so severely that the referee called the match, making Michaels the winner. Later that night, Jericho replaced
CM Punk in the
World Heavyweight Championship scramble match, and won the title. in early 2009.In December, having lost his family's savings due to the global recession, Michaels grudgingly accepted a one-year general employment contract from
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). After failing to help JBL win the World Heavyweight Championship from John Cena on January 25, 2009, at the
Royal Rumble, and being derided for it, Michaels agreed to face JBL in "All or Nothing" match at
No Way Out on February 15, which Michaels won thus letting him out of his contract early while still receiving full payment. On the March 2 episode of
Raw, Michaels became the first person to defeat
Vladimir Kozlov, and so earned a match with The Undertaker at
WrestleMania 25 on April 5, which he lost thus extending The Undertaker's
WrestleMania winning streak to 17–0. Their match was highly acclaimed by critics and audiences alike and is now considered by many to be one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. After WrestleMania, Michaels took a four-month hiatus from WWE.
Final matches and second retirement (2009–2010) in January 2010. Michaels returned to WWE programming in a series of segments that aired on the August 10 episode of
Raw, where he had,
in storyline, left the WWE. Triple H met with Michaels at an office cafeteria in Texas where he was working as a chef; throughout the segments, Triple H tried to convince Michaels to return to WWE and reform DX. After several incidents during the segments, Michaels agreed to team with Triple H to face
The Legacy (
Cody Rhodes and
Ted DiBiase) at
SummerSlam on August 23, where DX defeated Legacy. At
TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs on December 13, DX defeated
Jeri-Show (
Chris Jericho and
Big Show) to win the
Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC). On the January 4, 2010, episode of
Raw, Michaels buried the hatchet with long-time rival
Bret Hart, as they shook hands and hugged in the ring. In contrast to the storylines featured on the show, this was in fact a legitimate reconciliation which laid to rest animosities surrounding the
Montreal Screwjob. While some cast doubts on its sincerity, both men have confirmed that it was indeed genuine. DX lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a triple threat match to the team of
The Miz and Big Show on the February 8 episode of
Raw; the match also included The
Straight Edge Society (
CM Punk and
Luke Gallows). On February 21 at
Elimination Chamber, Michaels cost The Undertaker the
World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. At
WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, Michaels
lost to The Undertaker and, as a result, he was forced to retire due to the match stipulation, the same way Michaels ended Ric Flair's career. The following night, on the March 29 episode of
Raw, Michaels gave an emotional farewell speech, departing with the familiar sentence, "Shawn Michaels
has left the building." In an interview with
Bill Simmons of
ESPN.com shortly after his retirement, Michaels stated that his decision to retire came a month before WrestleMania 25, when a backstage employee asked about his son Cameron, and, in response to Shawn telling the employee that he'd just turned nine, the employee said that he was "halfway gone"; meaning that he was halfway to his eighteenth birthday, and after that, he'd be "gone". The statement affected Michaels deeply; he did not want to be absent when his son left home, so he decided that year would be his last year as an active wrestler.
WWE Hall of Fame and sporadic appearances (2010–2018) On the December 13 episode of
Raw, Michaels won the
Slammy Award for Moment of the Year for his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI and accepted it via satellite. Three days later, he announced a long-term deal with WWE, where he would serve in an ambassadorial role. Michaels made his in-person television return at the December 11
Tribute to the Troops taping, where he and Triple H had a one-night only DX reunion., with other 2011
WWE Hall of Fame inducteesMichaels appeared on the January 10, 2011, episode of
Raw, where he was announced as a
WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011 inductee. After being ridiculed by
Alberto Del Rio later that night, Michaels hit Del Rio with
Sweet Chin Music. On the March 28 episode of
Raw, Michaels addressed Triple H and The Undertaker about their match at
WrestleMania XXVII. Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 2 by Triple H. They were also joined by fellow
Kliq members
Kevin Nash (who had returned to WWE for the
Royal Rumble) and
Sean Waltman. He returned on the June 27 episode of
Raw, where he was confronted by
CM Punk, and superkicked
David Otunga and
Michael McGillicutty. Later that night, when
Diamond Dallas Page's special appearance was interrupted by
Drew McIntyre, he superkicked McIntyre. In June 2011, Jim Ross, Michaels and Hart announced that the three were working on a DVD chronicling the careers of Hart and Michaels that the WWE was planning to release in October 2011. The subject of the DVD was their on-screen rivalry and real-life conflicts, with a particular focus on the Montreal Screwjob. In his tweet, Hart described working on the DVD as a "cathartic" experience, and Ross asserted that both Hart and Michaels had been very honest and emotional in their interviews. The DVD, ''Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart: WWE's Greatest Rivalries'', was released in November 2011. On the February 13, 2012, episode of
Raw SuperShow, Michaels confronted Triple H about accepting The Undertaker's challenge for a
Hell in a Cell match on April 1 at
WrestleMania XXVIII, and announced he would be the special guest referee for it. Michaels appeared on the August 6 episode of
Raw where he was confronted by
Brock Lesnar, who (
kayfabe) broke Michaels's arm after putting it in a
Kimura Lock the following week. On the April 1, 2013, episode of
Raw, Michaels returned to offer to corner Triple H in his match with Brock Lesnar on April 7 at
WrestleMania 29. During that match, Michaels superkicked an interfering Paul Heyman, helping Triple H win and keep his job. At
Hell in a Cell on October 27, Michaels served as the special guest referee for the vacant WWE Championship Hell in a Cell match between
Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton, performing Sweet Chin Music on Bryan so Orton could win. On April 3, 2016, at
WrestleMania 32, Michaels made an appearance during the event in his in-ring attire, confronting
The League of Nations alongside
Mick Foley and
Stone Cold Steve Austin, where Michaels delivered Sweet Chin Music to
Alberto Del Rio and
King Barrett before celebrating with Foley, Austin and
The New Day. In late 2016, Michaels became a trainer at the
WWE Performance Center. According to
Pro Wrestling Torch in 2017, Michaels along with
Terry Taylor teach the finishing class at the Performance Center, the last of four levels of classes. He appeared on the January 9, 2017, episode of
Raw to promote
his new film. He was then confronted by
Rusev,
Lana and
Jinder Mahal, before
Enzo Amore and
Big Cass came to Michaels's side, leading to a match between Big Cass and Mahal, which Cass won after Michaels superkicked Rusev at ringside, distracting Mahal. On the March 13 episode of
Raw, Michaels gave
Roman Reigns advice about
The Undertaker for their match at
WrestleMania 33, before
Braun Strowman attacked Reigns on the entrance ramp. He was one of the many WWE legends who appeared on the January 22, 2018, episode of
Raw 25 Years. At
Super Show-Down on October 6, Michaels assisted Triple H in defeating The Undertaker, after which, he was attacked by The Undertaker and
Kane. On the following episode of
Raw, Michaels appeared with Triple H, announcing that he was coming out of retirement for one final match and reforming
D-Generation X. On November 2 at
Crown Jewel, D-Generation X defeated
The Brothers of Destruction. The match was poorly received by fans and critics alike, winning the
Wrestling Observer Newsletter's "Worst Match of the Year" award, although PWTorch's Wade Keller considered that "Michaels shows glimpses and didn't embarrass himself".
NXT and corporate roles (2018–present) in 2014 In November 2018, Michaels announced he was officially working as a writer and producer on
WWE's NXT brand and show, under former D-Generation X cohort Paul Levesque. In April 2019, Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for a second time, this time as a member of D-Generation X. He appeared at
Survivor Series on November 22, 2020, during The Undertaker's retirement ceremony. In September 2021, Levesque stepped away from the brand after experiencing a "cardiac incident". Michaels, in his role as Vice President of Talent Development, took over responsibility for the running of the NXT shows. In September 2022, his job title was confirmed as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, responsible for both creative and development at NXT, and for the expansion of NXT UK into NXT Europe in 2023. == Legacy ==