Shawn Michaels is one of the most remarkable stars of WWE, who had a style that kept wrestling fans around the world in awe of his skills and strength until he ceremoniously retired in 2010. His achievements during his active years as a wrestler are numerous and he has a number of awards and prizes to his credit. It is safe to say that Shawn is royalty when it comes to wrestling, he made wrestling something to look forward to in the 1990s and 2000s and as such he has gained fans and loyal followers who would give anything to support him during his matches.
During his decades-long career, he has been an actor, professional wrestler, and media personality. Although he is now retired, he still has an influence on some things in the WWE. In addition, after retiring from professional wrestling in 2010, he was signed on as an ambassador and coach for the WWE to promote emerging talent and ensure a smooth transition from the old talents that WWE fans loved so much to the younger generation.
Shawn Michaels Biography
He was born on July 22, 1965, as Michael Shawn Hickenbottom in Chandler, Arizona, the last of four children of his parents Richard and Carol Hickenbottom. His other siblings, all older than him, include Randy, Scott, and Shari. He had a peculiar upbringing that would be said to have influenced his choice of career. He was raised by a military father, and as such discipline was a strongly enforced rule to keep the children in line. His father’s profession also ensured that he grew up in different places and at different times. Of the places where the family lived, he spent some time in Reading, Berkshire, England, but also grew up in San Antonio, Texas. He attended Randolph High School at Randolph Air Force Base and then went to Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, but he didn’t have the patience to study, so he dropped out of school and did what he really wanted to do.
Shawn Michaels’ strict upbringing did him a world of good, it gave him a will of his own early on so that by the age of 12 he knew what he wanted to do with himself. He started showing wrestling routines in his high school talent show, he even went so far as to use fake blood to make it look real and good. Prior to that, he had been on the school’s football team since the age of 6 and became captain of the team before graduating.
Professional Wrestling Career
From an early age, Shawn never liked the name Michael, so everyone just called him Shawn, but after he dropped out of college to pursue his wrestling career to the fullest, he decided to adopt Shawn Michaels as his ring name. After leaving school, he began training with Mexican professional wrestler Jose Lothario to prepare for his debut on October 16, 1984, in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) mid-south wrestling territory. He lost the match, but both spectators and professionals were impressed with his first attempt, so further opportunities arose.
In January of the following year, he competed for the first time at the World Wrestling Championship (WCCW) in the NWA territory in Dallas, Texas. He competed in many areas of the NWA, winning some and losing others and fighting alone and in teams until he made his national debut in the American Wrestling Association at the age of 20.
With the world as his stage, Shawn Michaels continued to win hearts in the ring and perform heroic feats that have become a trademark that his fans cannot forget. Of the many things he did besides wrestling, Shawn was responsible for headlines at major pay-per-view WWE events between 1989 and 2010, he closed Wrestlemania five times, he is co-founder and the original leader of the D-Generation X-Tag team he formed in 1997 with the likes of Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H), Chyna and Rick Rude. Prior to that, in 1985, he and Marty Jannetty launched The Midnight Rockers tag team with Marty Jannetty.
To prove his worth, Shawn Michaels threw down a challenge for the WWF Championship and continued to win his first Intercontinental Championship, which heralded him as one of the industry’s leading individual stars, and he certainly didn’t miss this opportunity. He was famous for feuds like the ones he had between 2002 and 2004 with Triple H, 2013 with Chris Jericho, 2015 with Angle and Hogan, 2005 with McMahon, with Randy Orton and so many others.
Shawn Michaels Wife and Kids
On his very first attempt at marriage, Shawn Michael married Theresa Lynn Wood in 1988, but the union was not to last, as they soon ended in a mutual divorce in 1994. There are still no clear reasons why the marriage broke up. After the divorce, he met Rebecca Curci, a former WCW Nitro Girl, better known to many as Whisper. The two were introduced by a mutual friend named Rich Mizner. The two dated for a while until Shawn felt that he was ready to give the marriage a second try.
Shawn officially married Curci on March 31, 1999, at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. The union was quite fruitful as it produced two children: a son, born on January 15, 2000, whom they named Cameron Cade, and a daughter, Cheyenne, born on August 19, 2004.
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Achievements
From 1984, when Shawn Michaels debuted as a new wrestling talent, to 2010, when he officially hung up his gloves to make room for newer talent, he has consistently led the way and has been hailed as one of the greatest all-around wrestlers of all time. You just have to see his charisma in the ring, and you won’t have the slightest doubt about that. Officially, however, his most important victories are here.
1. He won the WWF championship three times in March 1996, in January 1997, and again in November of the same year.
2. He won the Royal Rumble twice, in 1995 and 1996.
3. In 21 years he won 15 Slammy Awards and 5 Match of the Year awards in 1994, 1996, 1997, 2008, and 2009.
4. After his retirement in 2010, he was appointed as WWE Ambassador and Coach.
5. And to sum it up, Shawn Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2011.
6. He has been awarded two successes and trophies for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users.
Height, Weight, and Body Measurements
Height: 1.80 M/5 Feet 11
Weight: 102 KG
Shoe Size: 7
Biceps: 17″
Chest: 46″
