Introduce My Friend shan michael

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American actor, professional wrestling personality, television presenter and retired professional wrestler.

Currently signed to WWE as an ambassador and trainer since December 2010, Michaels wrestled consistently for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998. He held non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2000 and resumed wrestling in 2002 until retiring ceremoniously in 2010.

In WWF/WWE, Michaels headlined major pay-per-view events between 1989 and 2010, closing the company's flagship annual event, WrestleMania, five times. Michaels was the co-founder and original leader of the successful stable, D-Generation X. He also wrestled in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he founded The Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty in 1985. After winning the AWA Tag Team Championship twice, the team continued to the WWF as The Rockers and had a high-profile breakup in January 1992. Within the year, Michaels would twice challenge for the WWF Championship and win his first Intercontinental Championship, heralding his arrival as one of the industry's premier singles stars. Michaels would go on to be widely regarded as its finest performer in the 1990s and 2000s,[8] winning the Pro Wrestling Illustrated "Match of the Year" reader vote a record eleven times. Michaels was voted the greatest professional wrestler of all time in a 2011 poll of the WWE roster.[9]

Michaels is a four-time world champion, having held the WWF Championship three times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once. He is also a two-time Royal Rumble winner, the first WWF Grand Slam Champion and the fourth WWF Triple Crown Champion, as well as a 2011 WWE Hall of Fame inductee.

Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Professional wrestling career
2.1 National Wrestling Alliance (1984–1985)
2.2 Texas All-Star Wrestling (1985–1986)
2.3 American Wrestling Association (1986–1987)
2.4 World Wrestling Federation and return to AWA (1987–1988)
2.5 Return to the WWF
2.5.1 The Rockers (1988–1991)
2.5.2 Two Dudes with Attitudes (1992–1995)
2.5.3 Formation of the Kliq (1995–1996)
2.5.4 WWF Champion (1996–1998)
2.5.5 First retirement and WWF Commissioner (1998−2000)
2.6 Post WWF/WWE (2000−2002)
2.7 Second return to WWE
2.7.1 Feud with Triple H (2002–2004)
2.7.2 D-Generation X reunion (2005–2007)
2.7.3 Various feuds (2007–2009)
2.7.4 Final matches and retirement (2009–2010)
2.7.5 Hall of Famer (2010–2011)
2.7.6 WWE Ambassador (2012–2015)
2.7.7 Trainer and sporadic appearances (2016–present)
3 Personal life
4 Other media
4.1 Shawn Michaels' MacMillan River Adventures
4.2 Filmography
4.3 HBK Line
4.4 Book
5 In wrestling
6 Championships and accomplishments
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life
Hickenbottom was born on July 22, 1965 in Chandler, Arizona.[1][10] The last of four children – Randy, Scott, and Shari are his older siblings – he was raised in a military family and spent a brief part of his early years in Reading, Berkshire, England,[1] but grew up in San Antonio, Texas. As a child, Hickenbottom disliked the name Michael, so his family and friends just called him Shawn.[11] Ever since, he has been referred to as Shawn. Additionally, Hickenbottom moved around frequently since his father was in the military.[11]

He knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler at the age of twelve and said he performed a wrestling routine in his high school's talent show, complete with fake blood.[10][12] Hickenbottom was already an athlete; his career began at the age of six when he started playing football.[13] He was a stand-out linebacker at Randolph High School on Randolph Air Force Base and eventually became captain of the football team.[4][14] After graduating, Hickenbottom attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, but soon realized that college life was not for him.[15] He then began pursuing a career in professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career
National Wrestling Alliance (1984–1985)
Hickenbottom began to train under Mexican professional wrestler Jose Lothario.[6][7] During his training, Hickenbottom adopted the ring name, "Shawn Michaels".[3] After his training with Lothario, he debuted as Shawn Michaels with the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Mid-South Wrestling territory on October 16, 1984, against Art Crews, losing to Crews via swinging neckbreaker. Michaels' performance in his debut match impressed many veterans, including Terry Taylor.

In January 1985, he debuted for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), the NWA territory in Dallas, Texas. In April 1985, Michaels went to work for another NWA territory in Kansas City called Central States Wrestling.[16] There, he and tag team partner Marty Jannetty defeated The Batten Twins for the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship, later losing it back to the Battens.[10]

Texas All-Star Wrestling (1985–1986)
After leaving Kansas City, he returned to Texas to wrestle for Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW).[3] During his time with TASW, Michaels replaced Nick Kiniski in the American Breed tag team, teaming with Paul Diamond. Michaels and Diamond were awarded the TASW Tag Team Championship by Chavo Guerrero Sr.[10] The team was later renamed American Force.[17] While in TASW, Michaels and Diamond feuded with Japanese Force.

American Wrestling Association (1986–1987)
Michaels made his national-level debut, as Sean Michaels, at the age of 20 in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in a victory over Buddhakhan on ESPN. He was once again teamed with Marty Jannetty, billed as The Midnight Rockers. The Midnight Rockers won the AWA World Tag Team Championship, defeating Doug Somers and Buddy Rose.[6]

World Wrestling Federation and return to AWA (1987–1988)
In 1987, The Rockers were signed by a competing promotion: the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[6] They were fired from WWF two weeks later, for a bar incident (a misunderstanding, according to Michaels' autobiography).[6][18] They then returned to AWA, where they won the AWA tag team titles for a second time,[10] but were re-signed by WWF a year later.[18]

Return to the WWF
The Rockers (1988–1991)
Main article: The Rockers

Michaels (left) with Marty Jannetty during their time as The Rockers
The Rockers redebuted at a WWF live event on July 7, 1988.[19] Due to WWF chairman Vince McMahon's desire to have his performers carry WWF-exclusive ring names, Michaels and Jannetty were renamed, as simply The Rockers.[3] The team proved popular with both children and women[6] and was a mid-card stalwart of television and pay-per-view shows for the next two years.[20] During this time, Michaels headlined his first pay-per-view for the WWF when The Rockers were involved in the 4-on-4 Survivor Series match main event of the 1989 Survivor Series.[21]

On October 30, 1990, The Rockers unofficially won the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), as Neidhart, half of the championship team, was in the process of negotiating his release from the company.[20] The match was taped with The Rockers winning the title, but soon after Neidhart came to an agreement with management and was rehired.[20] The championship was returned to the Hart Foundation, while the title change was never broadcast or even acknowledged on television (though The Rockers did actually have a successful title defence on November 3, 1990 against Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) before the title was returned to the Hart Foundation).[20] When news spread, WWF explained that the original result was void due to a collapsed turnbuckle in the ring during the bout. A buckle had indeed broke, but not to a noticeable or dangerous extent during the match.[3] The Rockers continued their partnership, eventually splitting on December 2, 1991 during an incident on Brutus Beefcake's televised Barber Shop talk show promotional segment.[22] Michaels superkicked Jannetty and threw him through a glass window on the set of Beefcake's talk show.[6][23] Jannetty returned to the WWF the following year and enjoyed moderate success before leaving the company in 1994, while Michaels became a prominent villain of the early to mid-1990s as "The Boy Toy".[22]

Two Dudes with Attitudes (1992–1995)
See also: Two Dudes with Attitudes
At the suggestion of Curt Hennig, Michaels adopted the nickname "The Heartbreak Kid".[6] Along with his new name came a new gimmick as a vain, cocky villain.[24] He was put together with mirror-carrying manager, Sensational Sherri, who according to the storyline had become infatuated with him.[22] Sherri even sang the first version of his new theme music, "Sexy Boy".[3] During that period, after Michaels had wrestled his scheduled match at live events, his departure was announced with "Shawn Michaels has left the building", alluding to the phrase "Elvis has left the building".[25]

Diesel acted as Michaels's on-air bodyguard and tag team partner for two championship reigns
At WrestleMania VIII, Michaels defeated Tito Santana in his first pay-per-view singles match after both men had simultaneously eliminated each other from that year's Royal Rumble.[26] Michaels subsequently became a contender to the promotion's singles titles and failed to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from champion Randy Savage in his first opportunity to compete for that title at British event UK Rampage, held on April 19 at the Sheffield Arena and broadcast on Sky Movies Plus[27] (the match later aired in the US on the edition of June 15 of Prime Time Wrestling).[28] Michaels was also unable to win the Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart in the WWF's first-ever ladder match at a Wrestling Challenge taping on July 21, which would subsequently be made available on multiple Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases.[29][30] However, he won the title from The British Bulldog on the October 27 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, which aired on November 14.[31] Shortly thereafter, he faced Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the Survivor Series, but lost the match.[32] Originally the secondary main event, Michaels and Hart became the primary main event after The Ultimate Warrior was unable to compete and was replaced by Mr. Perfect (Cut Hennig) in the tag team match that involved Randy Savage against the team of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon.[33] During this time, Michaels and Sherri split and he engaged himself in a feud with former tag team partner Marty Jannetty.[6] Michaels lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jannetty on the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw,[31] but regained it on June 6 with the help of his debuting "bodyguard" (and off-air friend) Diesel.[3][31]

In September 1993, Michaels was suspended for testing positive for steroid – a charge he never admitted.[34] On WWF programs, his suspension was explained by his having neglected to defend the title often enough. After turning down World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s advances, Michaels returned to the WWF and made several appearances in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) during a WWF/USWA cross-promotion. He returned to WWF television in November at the Survivor Series substituting for Jerry Lawler, who was dealing with legal issues, in a match pitting himself and three of Lawler's "Knights" against the Hart brothers, Bret, Bruce, Keith and Owen.[35]

In 1994, Micheals entered a staged rivalry with Razor Ramon, who had won the Intercontinental Championship, which had been vacated during Michaels' absence.[36] Since Michaels had never been defeated in the ring for the title, he claimed to be the rightful champion and even carried around his old title belt.[36] This feud culminated in a ladder match between the two at WrestleMania X.[36] Michaels lost the match, which featured both his and Ramon's championship belts suspended above a ladder in the ring.[35][36] This match was voted by fans as "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.[6] It also received a 5-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter member Dave Meltzer, one of five WWF/WWE matches to do so. Over the next few months, Michaels battled various injuries and launched the Heartbreak Hotel television talk show segment, mainly shown on Superstars.[37]

On August 28, Michaels and Diesel captured the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu).[38] The next day at SummerSlam, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ramon when Michaels accidentally superkicked Diesel.[35] This triggered a split between Michaels and Diesel, a storyline that was drawn out until Survivor Series that November.[39] Michaels went on to win the Royal Rumble in 1995,[40] which set up a championship grudge match at WrestleMania XI against Diesel (who had gone on to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Bob Backlund).[40] As part of the storyline, Michaels recruited Sid as his bodyguard for the build-up, lost the match[41] and was attacked by Sid the following night.[42] After this, Michaels took time off[42] because Vince McMahon wanted Michaels to become a fan favorite.[43]

Formation of the Kliq (1995–1996)
Main article: The Kliq
Michaels returned to the ring as a fan favorite in May 1995 and he went on to defeat Jeff Jarrett to win his third Intercontinental Championship in July at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks.[6][44] This led to a title defense against Razor Ramon at SummerSlam in a ladder match, which Michaels won.[6] Around this time, Michaels became the leader of a backstage group known as The Kliq.[6] Critics perceive the group to have sufficient clout with WWF owner Vince McMahon, becoming dominant wrestling figures in the WWF for several years in the mid-1990s, causing friction with other wrestlers. Michaels disputes the perception, saying that McMahon pushed only deserving wrestlers.[45] Michaels' fan base was later nicknamed "The Kliq" as an inside reference to the real "Kliq".[46] In October 1995, Michaels was the victim of a legit assault outside a bar in Syracuse, New York.[3] Due to not being able to compete, Michaels was forced to forfeit the Intercontinental Championship to his original opponent Dean Douglas at In Your House: Great White North,[47] who in turn Douglas lost the championship Razor Ramon, another member of the Kliq.[48] This event has been cited as an example of the Kliq holding others down. During a match with Owen Hart on a November episode of Raw, Hart performed an enzuigiri that struck the back of Michaels' head.[49] They continued the match, but Michaels collapsed in the ring, supposedly because he had suffered a concussion.[3][49] The concussion was scripted, which was kept from most fans at the time.[3] A retirement angle was written so that Michaels could take some time off after he came back from an injury too soon.[3]

WWF Champion (1996–1998)
Main articles: D-Generation X and Montreal Screwjob

The MSG Incident
After teasing a retirement, Michaels returned to the WWF at the Royal Rumble match in 1996, which he wound up winning for a second year in a row, to receive a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match in the main event at WrestleMania XII.[50] Around this time, Jose Lothario became Michaels' on-screen manager.[51] At WrestleMania XII, Michaels defeated WWF Champion Bret Hart in the overtime of their sixty-minute Iron Man match, which had ended in a scoreless tie.[6] On May 19, Michaels and his fellow Kliq members were involved in the incident known as "Curtain Call". Diesel and Razor Ramon were about to leave WWF to company rival WCW. After Michaels won a match against Diesel, Ramon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley came to the ring and joined Michaels and Diesel in a group-hug.[52] As Diesel and Helmsley were seen as villains at the time, in contrast to Michaels and Ramon, this constituted a breach of "kayfabe", as acting out of character, which was rare and controversial at the time.[52] As WCW gained momentum due to the signings of Hall and Nash, Michaels held the championship for most of the year. Michaels' championship reign ended at the Survivor Series event, where he lost to Sycho Sid, his former bodyguard.[53] Michaels recaptured the championship from Sid in January 1997 at the Royal Rumble.[54]

On a special episode of Raw dubbed Thursday Raw Thursday, Michaels vacated the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.[3] He explained to fans that he was informed by doctors that he had conjured a knee injury and that he had to retire.[55] His speech was regarded as controversial, as Michaels was allegedly unwilling to lose to Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 (since it was noted that he was going to have a rematch with Hart at WrestleMania).[6] Michaels contemplated thoughts of retirement and stated that he "had to find his smile again", which he had "lost" somewhere down the line.[6] After knee surgery by Dr. James Andrews, Michaels returned a few months later, briefly teaming with Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.[56] In his autobiography, Michaels reveals about his real-life feud with Bret Hart, claiming that Hart did interviews on live television claiming that he [Michaels] was faking his whole injury.[57]

Michaels portrayed his cocky, vain character with colourful outfits
By spring of 1997, the real-life backstage conflict between Michaels and Hart were reaching its heights. Both men were going out on television and frequently making personal, true to heart remarks about one another. Michaels briefly left the WWF in June of that year after a real backstage fight with Hart, just hours before a Raw Is War show, which allegedly resulted from Michaels making an on-air remark, known as the "Sunny Days" comment, implying that Hart (who was married at the time) was having an affair with Tammy Sytch, a Diva who was signed to the WWF as Sunny. Michaels and Austin were still WWF Tag Team Champions at the time during an ongoing feud with the Hart Foundation and a tournament was made to decide new tag team champions. Michaels would eventually return that summer in July. At SummerSlam, Michaels officiated the WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between WWF Champion The Undertaker and Bret Hart.[58] The match ended in controversial fashion, with Michaels hitting Undertaker with a chair (unintentionally, as he was aiming for Hart after he spat in his face).[58] Michaels was then forced to award the championship to his nemesis, Bret Hart.[58] The next night on Raw Is War, signs of a heel turn started to show as Michaels told the WWF fans what happened at SummerSlam was an accident and that he would deal with the Undertaker when the time came. At WWF One Night Only, held in Birmingham, England in September, Michaels defeated The British Bulldog to capture the European Championship.[58][59] The fans at the event were so appalled at the result of the match they booed Michaels out of the building to the extent that they littered the ring with garbage, cementing his second heel turn.[58][60] With this win, Michaels became the first Grand Slam Champion.[4] At In Your House: Badd Blood, Michaels and Undertaker participated in the first Hell in a Cell match, during which Michaels fall off the side of the 15-foot (5 m) high structure through a table and saw him as the winner in the match after the debuting Kane tombstoned his victory bound half-brother, The Undertaker.[61] The match received a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer.

In the fall, Michaels joined forces with real-life friend Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later known as Triple H), Helmsley's then real life girlfriend Chyna, and Rick Rude to form the stable D-Generation X (DX).[62] Michaels continued his rivalry with Bret Hart and his reformed Hart Foundation, which was now a pro-Canada stable. Michaels taunted the group and Canada by engaging in acts such as blowing his nose with and humping the Canadian Flag. Michaels later claimed the flag desecration was Hart's idea.[63] Michaels' feud with the Hart Foundation culminated in a championship match at Survivor Series in November 1997 against Hart. Michaels came out of this match, dubbed by fans the "Montreal Screwjob", as the WWF World Heavyweight Champion.[64] Michaels now held both the WWF World Heavyweight and European championship at the same time. Michaels dropped the European Championship to D-Generation X member Hunter Hearst Hemsley in a farcical match.[65]

First retirement and WWF Commissioner (1998−2000)

Michaels was the WWF Commissioner in 1998
At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Michaels received a serious back injury in a casket match against The Undertaker. Michaels would still go on to win the match and successfully retain his WWF World Heavyweight Championship.[6] Michaels took a back body drop to the outside of the ring and hit his lower back on the casket, causing him to herniate two discs and crush one completely.[6][66] This rendered Michaels unable to compete in the main event of the following month's No Way Out of Texas: In Your House as advertised, and forced him into retirement a night after losing the WWF World Heavyweight Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV as special guest enforcer Mike Tyson turned on DX and Michaels which allowed Austin to gain the victory.[67]

After being away for nearly four months, Michaels would make a surprise return to the WWF as a guest commentator on the July 13 episode of Raw Is War. Michaels would continue to make non-wrestling appearances on WWF programming and on November 23 he replaced Sgt. Slaughter as the WWF Commissioner, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, eventually joining Vince McMahon's group of wrestlers called The Corporation as a villain.[68] Throughout late 1998 and early 1999, Michaels made regular television appearances on Raw, in which he scheduled matches, throwing around his authority, and sometimes even deciding the outcome of matches.[69][70][71] On the January 4, 1999 episode of Raw Is War, Michaels re-joined DX as a fan favorite, but disappeared from WWF television for a few weeks to have back surgery[72] and by the time he returned DX was on the way of dissolving within the next couple of months.

Michaels made occasional appearances as the WWF Commissioner during the spring and summer of 1999, but remained absent from television after August until May 15, 2000, when he returned on Raw Is War to declare himself the special guest referee for The Rock and Triple H's Iron Man match at Judgment Day.[73] One month later, Michaels briefly reappeared on Raw Is Wae to hand over the role of Commissioner to Mick Foley and after another appearance in October he did not make any in-ring appearances until mid-2002,[74] although he appeared briefly on television to make a speech at WWF New York during Armageddon in December 2000.[75] Michaels also had no part at all in the Invasion storyline.

Post WWF/WWE (2000−2002)
Believing that his wrestling career was over, Michaels was interested in training individuals who wanted to become professional wrestlers.[76] He saw potential in using his name and opened the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in 1999, after his lawyer Skip McCormick suggested the idea.[76] Michaels left the academy in 2002,[76] giving co-founder Rudy Boy Gonzalez sole responsibility due to Michaels' new contract with WWE.[6] Michaels was also a sportscaster for San Antonio's local news for a short period during his retirement.[76]

On November 23, 1999, Michaels made a special appearance at FMW's Yokohama Arena show as the guest referee for the H (Hayabusa) vs. fake Hayabusa (Mr. Gannosuke) main event. He got himself involved in the match when fake Hayabusa delivered a low blow on him and he responded later on with Sweet Chin Music.[77]

Michaels was still contracted to the WWF (known by May 2002 as World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE) during this period.

Second return to WWE
Feud with Triple H (2002–2004)
On the June 3 episode of Raw, Michaels returned to WWE television after 18 months of absence when Kevin Nash announced him as a new member of the recently reformed New World Order (nWo). Michaels was the only nWo member to have never worked in WCW.[78] After the nWo had disbanded, Triple H appeared to make amends with Michaels. This was solidified when Michaels pleaded Triple H to return to Raw.[79] Later on, they came down to the ring sporting their DX music and attire. When the pair was about to perform their trademark "Suck It" taunt, Triple H turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him.[79] Continuing the angle, a week later, Triple H attacked Michaels from behind in a parking lot and put his head through a car window, in storyline.[80] In response, Michaels challenged Triple H to "a fight" (a non-sanctioned match) at SummerSlam,[81] which Triple H accepted, laying the foundation for a rivalry that would last for several years. In his first official wrestling match since WrestleMania XIV, Michaels won at SummerSlam, but was attacked by Triple H with a sledgehammer after the match.[82] At Survivor Series, Michaels won the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in the first-ever Elimination Chamber match.[83] Michaels' reign as champion came to an end a month later when he lost the championship to Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match, a series of three matches in which wrestlers attempt to win the majority of matches, at Armageddon.[84]

Michaels' match with Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XIX in March 2003 was his first match at a WrestleMania since WrestleMania XIV in March 1998
Michaels then began a rivalry with Chris Jericho, after Jericho claimed that he was the next Shawn Michaels.[85] On January 13, 2003, after Jericho won a battle royal to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble, choosing number two in order to start the match with Michaels,[86] who had already been named number one. At the Royal Rumble, Jericho, with the help of Christian, eliminated Michaels.[87] Michaels defeated Jericho at WrestleMania XIX. Despite this, Michaels was low-blowed after hugging with Chris Jericho.[88] On the final episode of Raw of 2003, Michaels would defeat Triple H after a Sweet Chin Music for the World Heavyweight title in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas with Eric Bischoff as the special guest referee (Earl Hebner originally refereed the match, only to be knocked out by Triple H in the middle of the match). However, Bischoff reversed the decision due to both men's shoulders being on the mat. Angered by this, Michaels attacked Ric Flair and Bischoff. Because of Michaels putting his hands on Bischoff, Bischoff then fired him. However, Michaels would be rehired by Steve Austin.

As a part of an ongoing feud with Triple H, the two competed alongside Chris Benoit in the main event match at WrestleMania XX for the World Heavyweight Championship. The former DX partners both came up short in the match, however, as Benoit won the championship.[89] The night before this, Shawn Michaels inducted Tito Santana in the WWE Hall of Fame. At Bad Blood in June, Michaels lost to Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match.[89] Four months later, he lost a World Heavyweight championship match against Triple H, after Edge interfered at Taboo Tuesday, when the fans voted for him ahead of Edge and Chris Benoit to face Triple H one more time.[90] Following this, Michaels was out of action for a few months with a legit torn meniscus.[4][91]

D-Generation X reunion (2005–2007)
See also: D-Generation X reunion
At the Royal Rumble in 2005, Michaels competed in the Rumble match and eliminated Kurt Angle. In seeking revenge, Angle re-entered the ring and eliminated Michaels, and thus placed him in an ankle lock submission hold, outside the ring.[92] Michaels issued a challenge to Angle for a match at WrestleMania 21, which Angle accepted when he appeared on Raw to attack Michaels.[93] The following week on Raw, Marty Jannetty and Michaels had a one time reunion as The Rockers and defeated La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier).[94] Three days later on SmackDown!, Angle defeated Jannetty, after Angle made Jannetty submit to the ankle lock.[95] To send a "message" to Michaels, Angle also humiliated Michaels' former manager, Sensational Sherri, when he applied the ankle lock hold on her.[96] At WrestleMania 21 in April, Angle defeated Michaels by submission, again with an ankle lock.[92] Two months later, at a WrestleMania 21 rematch, Michaels defeated Angle at the Vengeance pay-per-view event.[97]

Michaels performing his signature pose
Following the events of WrestleMania 21, the next night on Raw, Muhammad Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault Michaels.[98] On the April 11 episode of Raw, Michaels approached authority figure Eric Bischoff, in which he demanded a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari, a match consisting of one wrestler or team of wrestlers facing off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as two against one, or three against two. Bischoff refused to schedule the match, but informed Michaels to find a partner and he would grant him the match. Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him.[99] On the April 18 episode of Raw, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to save Michaels and accept his offer.[100] At Backlash, Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels when Daivari was pinned.[101] On the July 4 episode of Raw, Michaels and Hulk Hogan had a tag team match, which they won.[102] During the post-match pose, Michaels hit Hogan with his superkick, knocking Hogan to the ground and making Michaels a villain for the first time since returning in 2002.[102] The following week on Raw, Michaels appeared on Piper's Pit where he superkicked Roddy Piper and then challenged Hogan to a match at SummerSlam.[103][104] Hogan defeated Michaels at SummerSlam, and after the match Michaels extended his hand to him, saying "I needed to know, and I found out" and he and Hogan shook hands. Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd, and Michaels once again became a fan favorite.[105]

Michaels followed this up with a short feud with Chris Masters, becoming the first person to cleanly defeat him at Unforgiven following Sweet Chin Music.[106] Michaels was also occasionally giving title opportunities, but ultimately lost them all. He represented Team Raw at Survivor Series, but his team would go on to lose the match.[106] His bad luck in 2005 was to continue, after incurring the wrath of Mr. McMahon.

Triple H and Michaels as DX in 2006
On the December 26, 2005, episode of Raw, Vince McMahon lauded Michaels for his part in the "Montreal Screwjob". Michaels said he was only being loyal to his company, he had moved on, and McMahon should move on as well. McMahon then began setting unusual stipulations for Michaels' matches and interfering on behalf of Michaels' opponents.[107] During the Royal Rumble, McMahon made his way to the ring, and as Michaels stared at McMahon, Shane McMahon made a surprising appearance, eliminating Michaels from the match.[108] On the February 13 episode of Raw, McMahon tried unsuccessfully to force Michaels to sign retirement papers.[109] The following week, Michaels won a handicap match against the Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky and Mikey) and after the match, Michaels' former partner, Marty Jannetty, came down to help Michaels