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Shawn Michaels is one of the best in-ring talents in WWE history, with him becoming an all-time legend with a Hall of Fame career in the company. However, his road to greatness had many twists, turns, and obstacles. Through losing his smile and a bad attitude, to potentially career-threatening injuries, Michaels was very close to being a disaster story in professional wrestling. In terms of injuries, Michaels suffered one of the worst in WWE history, which threatened to end his career early, as he was kept from competing in WWE for well over four years, stretching from 1998 to 2002.
Shawn Michaels Was At The Top Of His Game In 1998
Throughout the 1990s, Shawn Michaels rose the ranks, developing from the tag team scene, to the midcard scene, all the way to the main event and World Championship picture. Despite several issues regarding a bad attitude and poor conduct backstage, Michaels retained his spot at the top due to his brilliant talents, charisma, and star power, despite not fitting the conventional mold of a Vince McMahon favorite.
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By the time 1998 rolled around, Michaels was a three-time WWE Champion, with a victory in a WrestleMania main event under his belt too. He was at the top of his game, having great feuds and matches against the likes of Diesel, Bret Hart, and The Undertaker. Prior to his injury, Michaels and Undertaker had battled a few times, firstly at In Your House 17: Ground Zero, then at In Your House 18: Badd Blood, battling in the very first Hell in a Cell match which was a five-star classic according to Dave Meltzer, per profightdb.com. Their next chapter came at the 1998 Royal Rumble PPV, where the pair faced off in a Casket Match.
Shawn Michaels Suffered A Devastating Back Injury Against The Undertaker
In terms of Casket Matches, this is among the better versions of this stipulation in history. Michaels and Undertaker have never had a bad match, and this was no different, with the pair trading big moves, such as a huge piledriver on the steel steps, and a massive crossbody from the ring and onto the casket, and a tombstone into the casket itself. However, disaster would strike within the contest.
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In what looked like a fairly normal move, Undertaker threw Michaels out the ring, with Michaels brushing against the casket on the outside. However, as his back collided briefly with the casket, it caused a lot of damage. Michaels herniated two discs in his back, in addition to completely crushing one too, leaving his back in a painful mess. It was a devastating injury and one which could have rendered him unable to even move.
Somehow, Michaels continued the match, perhaps working on nothing more than adrenaline, and retained his WWE Championship after Kane interfered and took out The Undertaker. Michaels would then stay out of the ring all the way until WrestleMania 14, with him missing the No Way Out Of Texas PPV. At WrestleMania, he would compete in excruciating pain, dropping the WWE Title to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin before entering into a forced retirement due to no longer being cleared to wrestle.
Shawn Michaels Came Out Of Retirement In 2002
It felt as though Michaels was simply done from competing inside the ring, especially as the years went on and on. He would periodically appear over the next couple of years as Raw’s Commissioner, with WWE making use of his name value when they could. Michaels would even open his own training academy due to believing himself to be done as a wrestler. That was until 2002, when he was able to make an in-ring return, which was hugely shocking as it had been a whole four years.
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Michaels would return to WWE for a feud with Triple H, which was initially supposed to be a one match deal. However, after realizing his back was causing him no issues any longer, he returned to WWE full-time, adding a huge name to the roster and further cementing himself as an all-time great. From there, Michaels would add to his endless list of classics, with incredible bouts against Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair, John Cena, and The Undertaker once again. Michaels’ comeback set the precedent for a “never say never” philosophy when it comes to supposedly career ending injuries, with the likes of Edge and Daniel Bryan returning to WWE following retirement too, continuing their career when it otherwise seemed unlikely and an impossibility. Whilst Michaels didn’t win a whole lot of titles within his second WWE run, he was a pivotal part of several eras, and put in some of the best work of his entire career.
