Shawn Michaels may have mellowed out considerably from the man he was during the 1990s, but the WWE roster got a glimpse of the old HBK in 2007.
During the 1990s, Michaels was notoriously difficult to work with and would use his position as part of the Kliq to play politics backstage.
After a back injury ended Michaels’ career in 1998, the former World Champion would find his faith and return to the ring in 2002.
A Devil in a Robe
By 2007, Michaels was far from the wild child that terrorized the locker room during the New Generation Era, but there was still a spark of the old HBK.
Speaking on his Extreme Life podcast, Matt Hardy recalled the WWE roster going out to celebrate following Michaels’ near-one-hour match with John Cena on Raw in 2007.
“Shawn at this point, was not drinking, very religious. And Ric [Flair] was down there just annoying the sh*t out of him. He’s like ‘Come on Shawn! Look at the champ John! He’s the leader now. He’s having some drinks. Shawn, you can have a drink! It doesn’t make you a bad person.’
Matt Hardy.
The old Shawn Michaels
After plenty of nagging by Ric Flair, Michaels eventually caved, which brought out a side that the roster didn’t expect to see.
“Ric finally got Shawn to cave and have some drinks. So he’s sitting there having his drinks, and you’re seeing the ‘old’ Shawn Michaels starting to come out. And Jeff and I, we were just tickled.
“Look at you Jeff Hardy. A Shawn Michaels wannabe!”
A drunk Shawn Michaels in 2007.
“You see Shawn and now that he’s had a few, he says ‘yeah look at you Jeff Hardy. A Shawn Michaels wannabe! People know that I’m the real deal. You think you’re hot sh*t right, just because people love you. Well people will always believe in me! Are they going to always believe in you?”
Matt added that Jeff was wowed by the drunk Michaels, but that he and Matt found the situation to be hilarious.
Confrontation
Well and truly inebriated at this point, Michaels turned his attention to Umaga, who was having none of his antics.
“Shawn’s like ‘hey, look at the big man over here. I’m incredible! If I hit you with that superkick, everybody knows I can beat you.’
“And I will never forget Umaga just jumped up and [aggressively] said ‘why don’t you give me a shot right now then? Go on!’ and Shawn backed off. ‘Whoa brother, I’m just working brother. Work with me brother.'”
“I will never forget Umaga just jumped up and [aggressively] said ‘why don’t you give me a shot right now.”
Umaga confronting a drunk Shawn Michaels about his superkick.
Hardy said at this point, he and Jeff were crying with laughter, calling it one of his favorite stories of life on the road.
For use of these quotes please give a h/t to SEScoops.
