WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels spoke to Alfonso Castillo of Newsday.com to promote his new book, Wrestling for My Life: The Legend, the Reality, and the Faith of a WWE Superstar
On Randy Savage: “I’ve only just recently from my Twitter feed learned about that. I knew absolutely nothing about that. Obviously, that would have been a blast. Gosh, I think that would have helped me immensely at that time. I think there’s so much I could have learned and would have learned. But I have to say that’s one of those things that’s been news to me. I guess all these years later you think, ‘Oh, that’s nice to know.’ I’m flattered. Randy was a very keep-to-yourself kind of guy. And I guess I’m making assumptions, but for him to think I was even ready to do something like that with him, I think is a wonderful compliment, and I’m thankful to have it. I always tell people how he’d give me these short little pieces of advice every now and again. It’s nice to know that he thought of me in that respect.”
On the Chris Jericho feud: “It was fun. And that’s what makes doing the job more enjoyable. You do it with someone you like. You do it with someone you get along with. Chris and I are a lot alike. We view the business, the ring work and things of that nature, a lot of it the same. And we enjoyed that process. So it wasn’t difficult. Chris and I always had a really good relationship. We can disagree. We can jump on each others’ cases. We can apologize. And neither one of us is immediately offended if the other one doesn’t like an idea. We’re quick to get past it and move on. And that’s really what that entire process is. And that’s what made it so fun. We came in every Monday and would get thrown a lot of curveballs. And it was fun seeing if you could hit them. And I think that’s what made it work out so good, because it was pretty darn challenging every step of the way. There was really no direction or no real ideas going into it. It was like having a big old plate of Play-Doh for two guys to mold into what they want.”
On organizing a “prayer circle” during his last WWE run: “I honestly can’t remember anybody having any problem with it. It was obviously something that just came about organically, which was very fortunate. I think if it became something that was almost a scheduled event, that’s when it might make people uncomfortable. It was always just something that individuals did if they wanted to. I don’t recall a time of someone objecting or being uncomfortable that I could see. Certainly, nobody ever said anything. I remember having conversations with guys who were really at a place where, ‘I sort of get the way you feel and there are times that I think about that. But there are some real practical things that don’t allow me to go down the same road you’re going down.’ And I always thought just having that conversation was awesome. I don’t think there’s anybody that doesn’t sometimes struggle with those things. I can’t describe to you verbatim those first seven days [of creation]. There are Christians who think there were seven actual days, or that creation was over time. They have answers for dinosaurs and things of that nature. And I don’t claim to have any of those answers. And I understand people wanting to have discussions about it. I don’t pass myself off as a bible scholar or a pastor or someone who knows all the biblical facts cover-to-cover. I’m just a guy whose life was changed by it. And that’s about the extent of it. So I’m not easily offended when people struggle about where they’re at with their faith at all”
Check out the complete interview at Newsday.com.
