Actors - Shawn Michaels

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	Actors - Shawn Michaels

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965 at the Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "The Heartbreak Kid" ("HBK") Shawn Michaels.

Career

Early career

Although born in Chandler, Hickenbottom grew up in San Antonio. Trained by Mexican professional wrestler Jose Lothario, he debuted in 1984 in Texas with Texas Allstar Wrestling promotion, where Michaels and Paul Diamond were awarded the promotion's tag-team championship by Chavo Guerrero, Sr. He also wrestled for Central States Championship Wrestling (a regional independent promotion that was associated with the (then) industry-leading National Wrestling Alliance or NWA). There he and tag team partner, Marty Jannetty defeated The Batten Twins for the Central States Tag Team Title, later losing it back to the Battens. Michaels also made several appearances in Dallas' World Class Championship Wrestling during 1985.

Michaels made his national-level debut in 1986 in the now-defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA); once again teaming with Jannetty, the pair were billed as "The Midnight Rockers" (so named to emulate the NWA's highly popular Rock & Roll Express and Midnight Express tag teams). They won the AWA Tag Team Title twice, having some bloody and memorable matches against "Playboy" Buddy Rose & Doug Somers. Verne Gagne briefly loaned the duo to Jerry "The King" Lawler's independent Memphis promotion, Southern Championship Wrestling (later re-named the CWA, and then USWA), as heels (i.e., villains). They even faced The Rock & Roll Express.

In a raid of AWA talent, The Rockers were signed by a competing promotion: the World Wrestling Federation. However, they were fired two weeks later for "partying too hard" (a misunderstanding, according to Michaels' biography). They returned to the AWA, but were re-signed by the WWF a year later. Because of Vince McMahon's desire to have his performers carry WWF-exclusive monikers (his company trademarks these stage names, so it won't have to share the subsequent WWF merchandising revenues with performers or their past promoters), they were simply known as "The Rockers." They became arguably the greatest WWF tag team to never officially win the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship.

The Sexy Boy

On a Saturday Night's Main Event broadcast (on the NBC network), The Rockers won the WWF Tag Team Titles, defeating "The Hart Foundation" (Bret "the Hitman" Hart and Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart). Neidhart had been fired and was still performing solely to meet his contractual obligation to lose Tag Team Title in the ring (to preserve storyline continuity). During the match, the top rope (red rope) broke and caused confusion, in the end with the Rockers winning. The Rockers defended the title a week after that; meanwhile, Neidhart was re-signed. WWF boss Vince McMahon decided that the title change never happened and sent a story to Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine saying the top rope's breaking caused an unfair advantage. The title reign was annulled and forgotten; the match was edited out of the SNME broadcast.

Citing frustration with their lack of championship success and a wish to break out on his own, Michaels and Jannetty split on an episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge, shown on January 12, 1992 (but taped on December 2, 1991) during a famous incident on Brutus Beefcake's "Barber Shop" segment, when Michaels superkicked Jannetty and threw him through a plate-glass window. However, behind the scenes of the incident, Shawn had been having personal issues with Marty. Vince agreed to break them up and continue them on as singles wrestlers.

Shawn turned heel and became a singles wrestler, taking the nickname, "The Heartbreak Kid" (often referring to himself as "HBK"). In his new gimmick as a vain, cocky heel, he took on a manager, Sherri Martel, who was infatuated with him and even sang the first version of his theme music, "Sexy Boy." Sherri was the catalyst for a then-rare "heel vs. heel" feud between Michaels and "The Model" Rick Martel (unrelated to Sherri), which led to a match between the two at the 1992 SummerSlam PPV. Behind the scenes however, Sherri and Michaels had a romantic affair that would last for 3 months.

Michaels enjoyed considerable success as a singles wrestler, winning his first WWF title, the WWF Intercontinental Championship from The British Bulldog during Saturday Night's Main Event, on October 27, 1992. Shortly thereafter, he faced Bret Hart for the WWF Championship in the main event of the 1992 Survivor Series.

He also feuded with his former tag team partner Jannetty, who reappeared in the WWF in late 1992, leading to several memorable matches. Michaels lost his Intercontinental Championship to Jannetty on an episode of Monday Night RAW on May 17, 1993, but regained it on June 6 with the help of his new bodyguard, Diesel.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Shawn Michaels ]

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Actors - Shawn Michaels

Career

Early career

The Sexy Boy

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