Most people that’ve known Shawn Michaels for a long time have described him as a completely different person since his 2002 return. By his own admission, Michaels claimed to have found God during his four-year retirement and did his best to apologize and make amends for his actions during the 1990s.
But some people within the wrestling industry and within its fan community are more skeptical than others about this alleged transformation. And now Matt Hardy has shared a story that suggests that “the old Shawn Michaels” is still there, just waiting for the right moment to reveal himself.
Ric Flair was playing the Devil on Shawn Michaels’ shoulder
Matt Hardy told a story of when the WWE crew were on an international your and came to the United Kingdom. That tour included a famous episode of RAW on which John Cena and Shawn Michaels had their famous 60-minute WrestleMania 23 rematch.
When it was over, several wrestlers, including Flair, were praising both Cena and Michaels. And according to Matt, Flair was trying very hard to convince Michaels to join them at the bar.
Initially, Michaels was reluctant to drink due to personal/religious reasons. But Flair still managed to cajole Michaels into drinking with them.
“Ric’s the best. I remember he was there that night. He’s like, ‘Oh my God, you’re the man Cena. John, you’re the champ.’ He said, ‘We’re gonna get together and we’ll have some drinks down at the bar.’
I remember Ric kept putting over Shawn Michaels, and you know, Shawn, at this point was like, not drinking and he was very religious doing his deal. Ric was down there just constantly annoying the s**t out of Shawn.
He’s like, ‘Come on. Look, the champ, John. He’s the leader now. He’s having some drinks. Shawn, you can have a drink. That doesn’t mean you’re a bad guy. You can have a drink. Celebrate. You guys had a hell of a match tonight. You went 50 minutes.”
Rlc Flair finally managed to get Shawn Michaels to join the rest of the crew for some drinks. But after Michaels had a few, he started talking smack to other wrestlers on the roster, including Matt Hardy’s brother Jeff.
“Ric finally got Shawn to cave and have some drinks. So he sits back there with some drinks and you see like the old Shawn starting to come out. We’re telling stories and you see Shawn and now he’s had a few.
He says, ‘Yeah, look at you for instance, Jeff Hardy, a Shawn Michaels wannabe. People know that I’m the real deal. You think you’re hot shit just because people love you. People will always believe in me. Are they gonna believe in you like that?’
After that, Shawn Michaels called out Umaga for a different reason, but Umaga actually upped the ante with Michaels.
“Umaga was there too. He (Michaels) said, ‘And look at the big man over here. Hey, I’m credible. People believe that if I super kick you, they know I can beat you with that.’
I remember Umaga popped up and he said, ‘Why don’t you give it a shot right now then. Go ahead.’ Shawn said, ‘Woa, brother. I’m working, brother. Come on. Work with me, brother. I’m just working. I’m working.’”
“It was hilarious though and Jeff’s just like laughing. ‘This is so cool. Shawn Michaels is talking s**t to me.’ Then Umaga called him out, and immediately, you see Shawn, ‘Oh, whoa, whoa, brother.’
h/t WrestlingNews.co for the transcription