by Craig Tello
The mood loosens up substantially when Shawn’s so-called googly eyes and infamous boot-tucked blue jeans farmer overalls are mocked onstage by The Game, Michaels’s “road wife.”
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MR. HALL OF FAME, 10:32 p.m.
At last, the Showstopper takes a deep breath as the Cerebral Assassin ceases fire and warmly invites his best friend out for his official induction. “Mr. Hall of Fame” hits the stage and steps into an enveloping haze of camera flashes at the podium. The charisma kicks in, perhaps as a defense mechanism for lingering nerves, and HBK has the crowd chuckling in between “Thank you, Shawn” chants.
“I can say I’m going into the Hall of Fame with no regrets,” a reflective Michaels reveals, attributing his successes to his parents, God, the WWE Universe and his family, who are just about twenty-five feet ahead to his lower right side.
No matter who fills the remaining seats in front of him—even some men who’ve tried their best in some of Shawn’s most grueling bouts to ensure that this moment didn’t happen—they gaze in admiration at an incomparable performer. They are all part of the fraternity to which Michaels is proud to have belonged for so long.
HBK is so appreciative and humbled by a night where the marquee moment is a celebration of the Showstopper, the Main Event. And though it seems like an impossibility to suitably cover the grounds of twenty-six years inside the squared circle, as always, Shawn delivers.
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CURTAIN CALL, 10:49 p.m.
The Showstopper completes the rite of a WWE Hall of Famer and makes history in the Philips Arena. A center-stage squeeze shared by DX’s founding members is embellished when the two direct the crowd’s attention to the entrance of both Sean Waltman and “Big Daddy Cool,” Diesel. An impressive ovation somehow rises in volume as the Kliq re-forms on WWE television for the first time since 1996.
How it began, it concludes. It’s a befitting scene, since HBK’s earliest rise in WWE was beside these men; and now that Michaels arguably cannot climb any higher in the mythos of sports entertainment, the Kliq can share their friend’s feeling of triumph.
This stage has borne something perfectly special tonight. This evening of April 2, 2011, has defined the legacy of the Showstopper and been a veritable aligning of several moons that HBK will perpetually cherish and none will soon forget.
DAY FOUR: Sunday, April 3, 2011
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THE SHOW DOPPELGANGER, 10:39 a.m.
It’s just about twelve hours since standing onstage as the latest addition to WWE’s venerable Hall of Fame, and HBK has the same swagger to his step that he did prior to induction . . . save for the final, unnerving moments before his speech.
Finally relieved of the mounting stress from his grand moment, Shawn Michaels says he initiated a new day by allowing the previous night’s events to truly sink in.
“I looked at my ring, I looked at the gift that Hunter got me, then I got to reflect on all the nice things that people said about me,” HBK explains. “I’ve never seen more grown men cry than I did last night. I was touched by the fact that it was an emotional moment for so many other guys.”
His emotions are far more balanced now, just in time for a VIP signing at WrestleMania Axxess, where a costumed Doppelganger HBK is waiting to meet his Showstopping idol. Having traveled eight hundred miles to Atlanta, Randy Latza manages to stand out among some very colorful WWE Universe members. Latza accessorizes his makeshift black leather studded chaps with his scarlet sunglasses and matching teardrop earrings—both heart shaped. The only person more excited than the Pennsylvania native is Michaels, who is thrilled at the sight and eagerly kicks into his signature HBK pose. Make that two.
“I’ve been watching Shawn since his AWA days, and I knew that he was going into the Hall of Fame, so I said let’s do this right,” Latza says. “This is a day I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”
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“ETERNAL LIFE,” 12:33 p.m.
It wouldn’t be the Show of Shows without Mr. WrestleMania. Even in retirement and, now, with ownership of a ruby-emblazoned Hall of Fame ring, nothing will keep Shawn Michaels away from the Grandest Stage of Them All. Reminiscent, the Showstopper recounts some of the clashes he witnessed in awe as a rising star in the WWE cosmos.
“I always go back to the Randy Savage–Ricky Steamboat match at WrestleMania III; it was the all-around best match on the card with two guys who are my preference of style and pace,” HBK explains.
In complete contrast to his all-time favorite clash, Michaels adds the aptly dubbed “Ultimate Challenge” between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior in 1990 to his ’Mania list. That same night in Toronto, The Heartbreak Kid and partner Marty Jannetty tussled with The Orient Express. Though defeated, Michaels fondly remembers an even larger moment for him as a spectator watching the epic confrontation from the other side of the curtain.
“You just knew something big was going to happen,” he explains. “At the beginning of that match with the staredown between the two, you could feel the electricity in the building and get caught up in it.”
Michaels continues: “Between those two moments—one watching as a fan, not part of the company, and then one being in WWE—I was starting to get a real understanding of what WrestleMania is.”
For every memory he himself cherishes of the most iconic Superstars performing at WrestleMania, HBK has etched countless unforgettable moments in the minds and hearts of many competing tonight in Atlanta. And if all works out as planned on the Grandest Stage of Them All, they too will climb to the zenith of sports entertainment, a nook that Shawn Michaels has personally carved.
“With WrestleMania, there’s this feeling that you can create a long-lasting piece of history,” HBK divulges. “Chris Jericho once said that it’s ‘eternal life,’ something that lives on forever. It’s true. Memories you create at WrestleMania have the ability to last forever.”
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AUSTIN EMPOWERS, 1:01 p.m.
Thirteen years back, Shawn Michaels competed in what he’d thought was his final match ever. The world knows now that this wasn’t the case. And maybe, just maybe, his opponent that night at WrestleMania XIV knew that HBK might one day return. But that clash isn’t a topic of discussion between Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin this afternoon inside the Georgia Dome, home of this year’s Show of Shows.
The pair of wily Texans converge at ringside while a handful of WrestleMania XXVII competitors—John Cena and Big Show among them—chill under the domed roof overhead, discussing testosterone-heavy topics like hunting, crossbows and all things Texas.
“You knocked it out of the park,” Austin tells HBK following Michaels’s poignant address at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony the previous night. The encouragement continues to pour in Shawn’s direction this weekend.
Although this evening boasts a card of some still fairly fresh WWE faces, there is also this significant presence of the past. A sizable chunk of that history lies in The Attitude Era, the champions of which are conversing right now at this moment. In 1998, the D-Generation X and Austin 3:16 movements permanently altered the landscape of sports entertainment. Years later, these instrumental personalities stand, matured face to matured face, and exchange pleasantries mere feet away from a torchbearer of today’s generation of Superstars in Cena.
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TALKING THE WALK, 3:32 p.m.
There is ample speculation attached to Shawn Michaels’s presence at WrestleMania tonight. Sure, the Showstopper vowed to stay in retirement this time last year. He even spent an entire week refuting the WWE Universe’s pleas for one more match. Still, his comments linger from last Monday’s Raw, in which he boldly doubted that his best friend, Triple H, could conquer the Phenom on the Grandest Stage of Them All. Many wonder if HBK could actually live with the fact if The Game were to do what Michaels couldn’t in two att
empts: sever Undertaker’s undefeated streak.
As if purposely trekking down a ramp designed for him, Mr. WrestleMania steps down the colorfully decorated aisle—like many memorable times before—from the mouth of the grand stage back toward its base. True to form, Michaels buddies up with a longtime WWE crew member, who extends a congratulatory greeting to the Showstopper. Shawn lingers around the ringside area, up and down the ramp, thanking even more Superstars, production staff and others who continue to applaud his poise at Philips Arena.
As he stands at the epicenter of WrestleMania XXVII, many thoughts must race through the brain of the Main Event, who’s since moved over for different combatants to fill that role.
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THE SET FOR ACTION, 3:43 p.m.
Lights, cameras and readiness for action engulf Shawn Michaels while he does a near-full 360-degree spin to absorb the impeccably meticulous detail of the vast WrestleMania XXVII set. From the archlike WrestleMania sign over the entrance ramp with letters easily twice the height of Big Show to a glimmering LED-lit cube floating above the ring itself, the visual spectacle of this immense event brings even the Showstopper to a contemplative halt. In the middle of the Georgia Dome, Michaels pauses to recollect similarly grand stages upon which he himself has danced, as well as his entrances to those unmatched performances.
“When I think of all the WrestleManias, it’s [WrestleMania] XXV with me and ’Taker that sticks out,” Michaels attests. “For my entrance, being up on that platform had the subliminal messages of me descending from heaven with the contrast of Undertaker coming out—the light and the darkness.”
He adds, “Up there, looking down and taking a peek—it was pretty amazing. High up there physically, you feel like you’re larger than life on top of this sea of 75,000 people. It’s overwhelming.”
The symbolism of his and his opponents’ arrival at the twenty-fifth anniversary of WrestleMania aside, HBK is quick to leap back in time to 1996 and his zipline descent from the Arrowhead Pond’s rafters to his Iron Man match of destiny. The WWE Universe was relieved to see the white leather–bedecked Superstar safely land and fulfill such a daredevilish act just prior to a WWE Championship bout with Bret Hart. The Heartbreak Kid remembers a different feeling of relief himself.
“[At WrestleMania XII,] I was strapped in, ready to go down for an hour-long match, and all of a sudden, I had to go to the bathroom,” Michaels reveals. “One thing I’ve always had to do is take one last pee break, and here I was at the top of the arena. So I went into the corner at the top and relieved myself. Only me and one other guy up there knew that happened.”
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PREACHING THROUGH THE CHOIR, 4:40 p.m.
It’s an unorthodox visual to see HBK loosely perusing a WrestleMania stadium like your typical member of the WWE Universe, which, frankly, he’s always been.
During a rehearsal session involving a throng of gospel singers, Shawn checks in with his Flip camera to record a message for visitors to his website. According to Michaels, following the vocal rendition of John Cena’s theme song, he is perfectly content being a spectator today.
“Sometime before this event, I told everybody that I was Mr. WrestleMania,” HBK explains, “the guy you were going to remember when this show was over. Tonight, I’m ready to go out there and wave and that’s about it.”
He’s danced on this stage so many times and, for many, this “WrestleMania air” would cause a relapse in the desire to dance again.
“I’m excited to just watch,” Michaels reaffirms. “And right now, no, there’s no itch. I’m allowed to be a part of this as much as I want, and you see how much I’m a part of it. That’s how much I want. If I had the itch, I’d still be in there.”
53
ALL ACCESS, 7:13 p.m.
Not just anyone can sit in one of the cushy, swiveling seats just waiting on the other side of the curtain. But with twenty-six years and an unrivaled match library, the Showstopper has more than earned his pass. Shawn pulls up to an unoccupied space beside WWE executive vice president Stephanie McMahon in what’s essentially her road office . . . that just so happens to adjoin with that of her father, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. In formal attire for the WWE Hall of Fame inductee presentation later this evening, Shawn employs his usual charm and wit to offer brief relief for his good friend in the middle of production for the biggest show of the year.
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STAGE PRESENCE, 8:42 p.m.
For one last time, a tuxedo-garbed Shawn Michaels steps onstage during this unforgettable weekend, a good portion of which rightfully commemorated an iconic Superstar with indelible talent. Beckoned by the legendary voice of Howard Finkel to stand in the center of a five-pointed star on the red carpet adorning the stage, Shawn mentally captures this event in which 71,617 people express their gratitude to him. And it’s reciprocated.
“[My faith] has put me in a permanent state of thankfulness,” HBK states. “It humbled me in a huge way and brought a peace and a joy that I didn’t have before. It also got me in touch with the fact that I’m here for something, and that wrestling is just a part of it.”
Although wrestling is a large part of his life, the lion’s share is sitting in the skyboxes over the Georgia Dome floor.
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BRINGIN’ IT UP, 8:51 p.m.
Departing the stage an instant before the unlikely WrestleMania contest between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, Shawn Michaels is already disrobing in order to change into his more comfortable attire: cutoff button-down shirt and, since he is a proud Texan, his cowboy hat. HBK opens the door of a private locker room to find WrestleMania host Dwayne The Rock Johnson electrifying a very small audience. Close quarters serendipitously force a professional encounter between “The Great One” and the Showstopper that skews more personal. Their first meeting all weekend—and in years, for that matter—provides Johnson with an opportunity to ask Shawn about retirement.
“Fishing, hunting, going to get Cold Stone [Creamery] ice cream,” Michaels says, describing his favorite “kid-in-him” activities as a ring retiree. “Honestly, the biggest thing is having treat night any time we want and not having to wait till the Pay-Per-View’s over and Daddy’s home from Raw.”
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PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE, 9:11 p.m.
On his way to the skybox area where his family awaits him, Shawn Michaels grins as he meets WrestleMania celebrity Pee-wee Herman. HBK continues on his big adventure up to suite B90, where Rebecca, Cheyenne, Cameron and more than a dozen family members are watching history being made in the Georgia Dome. This includes his seated father, who closely watches Shawn’s plainly refreshing interaction with eleven-year-old Cameron, bedecked in head-to-toe John Cena gear.
“[This weekend] has been a confirmation of my feeling that [Shawn] is the greatest entertainer WWE has ever had,” passionately states HBK’s father, who took out a loan nearly thirty years ago so that the Showstopper could be trained under Jose Lothario. “Of course it was worth it. It gave him the opportunity to pursue his vision of the future.”
The love expressed appears to be genetic in its trickling from HBK’s dad down through Michaels to Cheyenne and Cameron, much like “the Colonel” (as Shawn has affectionately referred to his father) has done in raising four children.
Concluding his thoughts, Michaels’s dad rises to his feet just in time to see an epic arrival of WWE’s greatest warriors. Undertaker. Triple H. No Holds Barred.
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PHENOM TAKES FRIEND, 9:32 p.m.
A strong majority of the skybox is in staunch support of The Game for his joust with the spirit who claimed victories over HBK at two consecutive WrestleManias. The most fervent favorers of Triple H are Michaels’s loyal children, who expressed their wish “to see the streak end” earlier this morning at WrestleMania Axxess.
The rugged battle rages on and Shawn des
cends the stairs for a closer, unimpeded look at his best friend’s clash with the only demon HBK couldn’t overcome. Michaels watches his chum struggle to take down the Dead Man, despite multiple Pedigrees, steel chair swings and even a Tombstone.
Hell’s Gate, however, locks The Game in a realm of unenviable torment until Shawn’s prophecy is fulfilled. Symbolically watching WrestleMania from a further distance than he has in years, HBK witnesses his friend fall to Undertaker as the tally reaches 19–0.
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TWO FRIENDS FOR YA, 10:08 p.m.
The arena is still recovering from a frenzied exhibition, and the lyrics of Johnny Cash’s ominous hymn continue to reverberate throughout the Georgia Dome.
Shawn Michaels was right. And so is Cash when it comes to Undertaker. Perhaps there is no grave that can hold his body down. Fortunately for the fallen Triple H, there’s also no force in the world—supernatural or not—that can keep the Showstopper from his friend of fifteen years tonight.
The collision of “two old war-horses,” as Michaels describes it, has come and gone and left considerable damage in its strife-ridden path. But still, there is a sanctity that restores The Game when he reconnects with his comrade, HBK.
Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, Ric Flair, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock. Each man has played an integral part in the creation of the Showstopper, but none more so than the Cerebral Assassin, who shares with Shawn a history far richer and extensive than some careers in WWE today. Like blood-tied brethren, they carve another memory among so many other milestones—a good deal of them celebrated over the course of WrestleMania week.