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Submitted by Xan on Sunday, August 20, 2006 at 2:20 AM EST
 "You can tell everyone that we're through. And you might even believe it, too. But, darlin', there ain't no getting over me."--Ronnie Milsap Thing is, I'm an idiot. Shut up, Random. Cool it, Helix. Not like that. I've had an epiphany. A few months ago, when I was making a top 10 list of my favorite wrestlers of all time for some column that used to be around here, I left a name off of it that truly belonged. You see, I let a sense of staleness I saw in this guy cloud my judgment and it's not the first time I've held something against him, because I've always run kind of hot and cold on him. His abilities never in question; there were always certain things about him that I didn't like, and it seemed my dislike of these traits were always so strong that they overwhelmed the respect I had for his inherent abilities in the ring. The guy's a natural showman, a born wrestler, and clearly one of the best wrestlers that's ever walked the Earth. Yet, I, Xan, scoffed just months ago when Jim Ross called him a "sure-fire" Hall-of-Famer. Then Monday Night, like so many times before, all it took was one superkick to make me love Shawn Michaels all over again. But that's not all it did. I suddenly realized that Shawn Michaels is the one guy in professional wrestling who has made me feel the most. Not all the time, clearly. If so, he obviously would have had an unquestioned place at the top of my list, but there has never been a wrestler who has touched me so many times at so many big moments over the course of his career; over the course of my viewership. You know what else? Other than my brief mentions of Chris Benoit in many, I believe that Shawn Michaels has been or near the focus of more columns than any other. Yet, it took a kick to the side of the head--thankfully not mine--to get me to realize that I'm not just a Shawn Michaels fan, not just a guy who loves to watch HBK go. I think all these years I was probably a closet mark for "The Headliner." A guy that Shawn Michaels was compared to often at an early age was Ric Flair. And, of course, one of Flair's most famous lines is "Whether you like it, or you don't like it, you're gonna have to learn to live with it.(or "learn to love it.", depending) Because it's the best thing going today." Well, the thing is, that a lot of times when it came to Shawn Michaels, I didn't like it. A lot of the time, I really hated it. But, underneath the dislike and the hate, there was always something compelling about "HBK". Even when he was a member of the WWF's most under-used tagteam of all time, there was a fire in Michael's eyes, a gleam. And, you just knew that if he were given the ball even for a *second* he would run with it. My God, who would have thought that 17 years after I first watched the guy perform he'd still be running? "A man must have his dreams--memory dreams of the past and eager dreams of the future. I never want to stop reaching for new goals."--Maurice Chevalier The first time I saw Shawn Michaels he was one half of "The Rockers," along with Marty Jannetty. They were a helluva lot of fun to watch. Since I had never been exposed to the NWA at the time and hadn't seen much of the British Bulldogs--still haven't, to be honest--they were the first "tag team specialists" I ever saw, and they were spectacular. They were literally poetry in motion, as all the moves they executed were synchronized. They dressed and looked like rock stars, and in essence they wrestled the same way. They were pretty damned over with the audience, too. Why they never got the tag titles, I don't know. But, I remember enjoying watching these guys perform. They were never my favorite team, because the Hart Foundation was always around when they were, but I always cheered for them against anyone else. In fact, the first time I can remember Shawn Michaels facing anyone in a single's match it was in 1990 against Bret Hart, as a main event for WWF Superstars of Wrestling. About a year later, Bret was the Intercontinental Champion and Shawn Michaels was finally breaking away from tagteam wrestling, as his team with Marty Jannetty was on the rocks. The first time that I ever truly marked out for Michaels was the official break-up of the team when the soon-to-be HBK superkicked his partner and then threw him through the Barbershop window. That was awesome, it was breathtaking, and it was career-making. Like I said earlier, there was never a doubt about the talent of Shawn Michaels, but there have been plenty of talented guys in the history of this business who never became a star. The simple, brutal act of ending his tag team by breaking glass with Jannetty's face enabled him to distinguish himself and begin a rocket-launch to success. The second step along the way, of course, was the gimmick change. He still wrestled basically the same way, though his high-risk moves were more limited, but he went from being the fan favorite pretty-boy to being the arrogant, leather-dressed Heart Break Kid, accompanied by Sensational Sherri. I loved the character, personally. The only thing I didn't love was that his finisher was a modified back suplex. Not exactly a believable finisher, in my mind, but that's what they went with. Then, less than a year after the turn he won his first single's title by dethroning Davey Boy Smith for the Intercontinental Title and around a month later competed in his first Pay Per View Main Event against Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1992. This is still, in my mind, the best of their PPV matches against each other, and saw Shawn tap out to the Sharpshooter after being caught trying a missile dropkick. Still, even in the loss, it was a respectable showing that was another step on the way for him. Now, I'm sure that a lot of people would call the Wrestlemania X ladder match between Michaels and Razor Ramon their next big mark-out moment for him, but I'm not one of them. While I realize it was a good match, frankly Michaels had already had a better one previously against Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Title and so I didn't buy into all the pre-match hype of it being the "First Ever Ladder Match in WWF History," and I wasn't as impressed with the bout as a lot of people were. I'm honestly still not to this day, and I don't see it as the ClassicX match that a lot of people do. It probably deserved XXX 1/2 or so, but not much more than that and truthfully, I always hated the ending. "The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck."--Ralph Waldo Emerson So let's move on to Royal Rumble '95, because this was the event that solidified my love of Shawn Michaels, the single's performer. I was rooting for him going in and I was disappointed that they changed the rules that year so that someone came in every 60 seconds, but still Shawn and Davey Boy both put on such an amazing performance that I still throw it in every once in a while to watch. The ending held up as the greatest to any Royal Rumble until 2004. I mean I loved Michaels work in 1995, but you've got to give it up for Benoit starting at the same spot(1) going more than twice as long and then choking out the Big Show, over the top rope, to win it. That was just fucking cool, and I don't see how it will ever be topped. Still Michaels and Davey were the first two in the match, battled each other throughout, and just when it looked like The British Bulldog had won, HBK snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Yeah, it's a cliche. Sue me. An opportunity had been opened, and it was looking more and more like a new superstar had arrived. Unfortunately, that victory did not lead him to his first WWF Title victory. He was too over for that. Yes, you read that right. Reportedly he was going to win the title at Wrestlemania XI, but an interesting thing happened. The crowd started chanting louder for Shawn than for the WWF Champion, Diesel. This was at a time where Vince McMahon was still not very comfortable having a "heel" be cheered by the fans. So, as rumor goes, McMahon changed the ending mid-match and decided to keep the title on Diesel. Thus began a year-long run of Shawn Michaels' re-packaging as a face. I mention this not because any of it caused me to mark-out(other than Michaels berating Sid the very next night,) but because it started something still going to this day that I despise. "Sweet Chin Music." Let's be crystal on this: I love the superkick. I always have. Sure it's been bastardized now, but if performed correctly it is still a believable finisher to any match. That's why it's so effective for false finishes, and why the crowd pops every time. If performed correctly it's a knock-out move, and Shawn Michaels has long had the best superkick in the business--even back when it was still a "reverse thrust kick." No, the kick itself is fine. But, the dancing around and stamping shit has always been stupid and it galls me that he won so many matches doing it. Sure, HBK is played as the consummate showman, but still, let's have some logic, shall we? Why the hell would you stamp to let your opponent know you're coming? I don't get it. Never have. I've always thought he should have developed a different finisher as a face, because the superkick would make such a great heel coup de grace. Think of it, the face is fighting back, he's about to win the match, when...surprise...knock out. "Every year, if not every day, we have to wager our salavation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge."--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Michaels continued to prosper as a face, regardless, his ladder re-match against Razor Ramon at SummerSlam 1995 was far better than their over-rated encounter at Wrestlemania X. It had more passion, more drama, more respect between the two, and a better story. It absolutely stole the show at the event and moved Michaels further along his main event path to the show that would--for good or ill--make him a main eventer for life: Wrestlemania XII. I remember loving this IronMan match at the time, though the ending never sat well with me. I was raised on sports and it never made sense to me that Shawn was able to start the overtime from a freed position. If a shot's in the air and time's running out in basketball, we wait to see if it goes in the hole or not. If a running back is 10 yards from the end zone when the clock expires, the other team still has to tackle him to prevent the score. So, if there was going to be an overtime period, logically, it should have started with Michaels trapped in the Sharpshooter. While I liked that Michaels finally had reached his pinnacle, I wasn't pleased at the illogical way he won. The next time I really thought anything at all about Shawn Michaels was about a year later. I didn't really get into his feud with Sid. I know the title changed hands back and forth, but I was more focused on Steve Austin and Brian Pillman and later the return of the Hitman. I do remember thinking how stupid it was to bring in a trainer for him, but whatever. I simply didn't care until his famous "I've lost my smile" speech. This was the first time I really, truly disliked Shawn Michaels. I still didn't know the guy, but it was clear that he was trying to get out of having to return the job to Bret Hart for whatever reason, and that he completely screwed up the company's big main event plans for Wrestlemania, all out of a big ego. The incredible thing is that the WWF let him get away with it. 8 months later, Bret had something in his *CONTRACT* that said he could do that if he so choose, and Vince screwed him over. Favoritism much? So, I pretty much hated Shawn Michaels in 1997. I tried not to, but I didn't think the way he was acting was good for the business. When you owe a guy a job, you don't fake an injury to make sure you don't have to give him his just due. And, if you're going to stoop low enough to do that, you sure as hell shouldn't do it when you've got the World Title and you know your company is banking on you dropping it to the guy. Then, when even though this happened, Vince chose Michaels over Hart, I thought it was a huge mistake. It turns out he somehow made water into wine by using his "boss" persona to cultivate a feud with Steve Austin that lasted over a year. But it also turns out that the man he chose over "The Hitman" injured himself badly and was unable to continue as a wrestler past the event(Wrestlemania XIV) where Austin took over. Despite the fact that Michaels was far from loved by me at the time, when I found out he was injured I cried. I cried because we, as wrestling fans, were losing a talented performer who, according to the Ross Report, may never wrestle again. "Success isn't the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire."--Arnold H. Glasgow For the longest time--over 4 years, in fact--it seemed that Ross was right. Michaels would come in from time to time for special appearances. One of the most memorable was when he super-kicked the Rock in the face as the special referee to prevent him from beating Triple H for the WWF Title in a Smackdown main event. He was also the GM of the WWF for a while as a member of The Corporation, but one moment that really stood out for me was when he was a member of the NWO and--in mid-sentence--superkicked Booker T in the face. A few months later, he returned to competition by facing Triple H at SummerSlam in a Street Fight in one of the best matches of the year. Three months later, he pinned Triple H in the brilliant inaugural Elimination Chamber to win the World Title. Since then, he's been a mainstay face and entirely in the upper card and main event. About 6 months ago, it seemed his act was growing stale and I really felt that he could use a change in scenery, and probably a turn back to the heel side. Since then, he's only gone out and had 4 of the 5 best matches of 2005. And now? One week after he called Hulk Hogan for help against CC, Y2J, and Tomko and just 2 hours after he rescued him from C-cubed and Kurt Angle, Michaels knocked Hogan out with his superkick. Now, I have no idea what this means. I'm hopeful that it's a heel turn for Michaels, but it may not be. It may be one of those "I grew up worshiping you, but now I've got to know who's better" situations. If not, we could be in for another helluva ride. Remember, not too long ago Ric Flair said the perfect current 4 Horsemen would be himself, Triple H, Kurt Angle, and Shawn Michaels. With a heel turn, this may happen. I'm not real fond of that idea, just throwing it out there. Here's another one: Is it possible that Shawn Michaels, a man who started wrestling during the second Reagan Administration, is just now coming into his prime as a wrestler? That, my friends, is a scary thought, but I submit to you that it may very well be true. Look at the matches he's already astounded with this year: vs. Edge at Royal Rumble, vs. Edge in a Street Fight on RAW, vs. Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania, vs. Shelton Benjamin the night after Backlash, and (reportedly)vs. Kurt Angle at Bad Blood. The only MOTY contender so far that he has not been involved in happened at ECW One Night Stand. The guy's obviously still got skills, and is at his best since the DX days. Now he's headed into a feud with Hulk Hogan, which should be a blockbuster. Sure, Hogan can't go much anymore, but a one-time match against the Heart Break Kid? Fucking lights out. Additionally, if Shawn really is heading heel, then the real Big Time match coming out of the whole draft situation is *not* Triple H versus John Cena, because that match won't hold a candle to the bonanza that will be Cena vs. Michaels. While I think Trips/Cena will probably headline Mania XXII, isn't The Champ vs. The Headliner at least as worthy? Isn't that a match you could hang your dreams on? Talk about big money. And that's really what it's always been about for Shawn, isn't it? Big money matches, the spotlight, living the dream. The Rock vs. Hogan was big, no doubt. But, to me, Cena/Michaels has a chance to blow it out of the water. That's the real "showstopper", "headliner", "the main event". The Heart Break Kid has been on fire this year, moreso than any other time in his career, and I believe this match will be yet another big step in 2005 to Shawn Michaels becoming something else he used to call himself. Icon. That will conclude today's voyage on The Northern Star. For feedback, please email me atXanManX@hotmail.com, with the words "Northern Star" or "feedback" in the subject line or click here to leave it in the LOPForums. The Northern Star will rise again in 5 days with a new edition of The X-Change. Until then, Long days, pleasant nights *NEW GALLERY* The AMAZING New Karen Angle Tease Photos!
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