1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX

2
00:00:02,586 --> 00:00:06,089
[overlapping chatter]

3
00:00:06,173 --> 00:00:07,466
‐ That way he's standing,

4
00:00:07,549 --> 00:00:09,134
I mean, it looks like
it's higher, right?

5
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

6
00:00:09,218 --> 00:00:12,221
Because you do that
from the second rope.

7
00:00:12,346 --> 00:00:13,514
Boom!

8
00:00:13,639 --> 00:00:18,769
<i>This job to me is the greatest
life that I could ever live.</i>

9
00:00:18,852 --> 00:00:22,314
For years people told me
I was too small,

10
00:00:22,397 --> 00:00:24,274
that I couldn't do this
and I couldn't do that

11
00:00:24,358 --> 00:00:26,151
and I wasn't going to make it.

12
00:00:26,276 --> 00:00:28,487
And I've shoved it
in everybody's face.

13
00:00:28,612 --> 00:00:29,821
No time‐outs in this, man.

14
00:00:29,905 --> 00:00:34,576
<i>I realize I can't be popular
with everybody all the time.</i>

15
00:00:34,701 --> 00:00:38,163
So in the meantime, I'm going
to be popular with me,

16
00:00:38,288 --> 00:00:39,706
and I'm going to be the best.

17
00:00:39,831 --> 00:00:43,460
<i>‐ There are definitely
two lives of Shawn Michaels.</i>

18
00:00:43,544 --> 00:00:46,171
You know,
there's who he was before...

19
00:00:46,296 --> 00:00:48,715
<i>‐ You will not ever
in your lives</i>

20
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,385
<i>see a man more charismatic,</i>

21
00:00:51,510 --> 00:00:54,513
<i>more flamboyant,
or more talented</i>

22
00:00:54,638 --> 00:00:57,224
<i>than the Heartbreak Kid
Shawn Michaels.</i>

23
00:00:57,307 --> 00:01:03,397
‐ The greatest in‐ring
performer of all time.

24
00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,816
<i>Being a prick
comes natural to Shawn.</i>

25
00:01:05,941 --> 00:01:07,568
It did.
He was a dick.

26
00:01:07,693 --> 00:01:11,321
‐ <i>The showstopper,
the headliner, the main event.</i>

27
00:01:11,446 --> 00:01:13,323
<i>‐ There was so much
bad blood between us,</i>

28
00:01:13,407 --> 00:01:17,369
and I was always like,
"If I see him, I'll kill him."

29
00:01:17,494 --> 00:01:20,163
<i>I had so much anger about it.</i>

30
00:01:20,205 --> 00:01:24,418
‐ Nobody steals my spotlight.
I want it all.

31
00:01:24,501 --> 00:01:26,378
‐ Shawn Michaels
could do absolutely anything,

32
00:01:26,461 --> 00:01:29,131
any style to perfection
with anyone.

33
00:01:29,256 --> 00:01:32,134
<i>When the bell rings,
no one is as good as Shawn.</i>

34
00:01:32,175 --> 00:01:34,094
‐ <i>I will give you a show</i>

35
00:01:34,177 --> 00:01:36,847
<i>like you have never ever
seen before.</i>

36
00:01:36,972 --> 00:01:40,142
Why?
Because I can.

37
00:01:40,267 --> 00:01:43,520
‐ <i>The only man
to win every major title.</i>

38
00:01:43,645 --> 00:01:46,898
‐ You can't say anybody
was better, but also tormented.

39
00:01:47,024 --> 00:01:48,525
<i>He was, like,
on self‐destruct mode.</i>

40
00:01:48,609 --> 00:01:51,153
‐ <i>I just knew
that he didn't love himself.</i>

41
00:01:51,194 --> 00:01:52,946
There was something
in him that he despised.

42
00:01:53,030 --> 00:01:55,991
<i>‐ If you're taking pain pills
at 12 in the afternoon,</i>

43
00:01:56,074 --> 00:01:58,285
<i>belligerent, falling down,
staggering,</i>

44
00:01:58,368 --> 00:02:01,288
<i>everything that
you have in your life is this.</i>

45
00:02:01,371 --> 00:02:03,874
<i>And it's all going away.</i>

46
00:02:03,957 --> 00:02:06,251
<i>‐ On more than one occasion,</i>

47
00:02:06,335 --> 00:02:08,128
I really wanted to beat
the hell out of Shawn,

48
00:02:08,170 --> 00:02:10,297
<i>but I knew there was
a good man</i>

49
00:02:10,380 --> 00:02:12,341
<i>behind all this other crap.</i>

50
00:02:12,466 --> 00:02:14,384
<i>‐ The biggest thing
that he ever did</i>

51
00:02:14,468 --> 00:02:15,719
is turning
his life around

52
00:02:15,844 --> 00:02:18,180
to where he is now.

53
00:02:18,305 --> 00:02:21,266
‐ <i>And so, yep,
there are two lives there.</i>

54
00:02:21,350 --> 00:02:23,685
But there's one Shawn Michaels.

55
00:02:23,810 --> 00:02:28,815
‐ <i>The very best sports
entertainer in the world.</i>

56
00:02:28,899 --> 00:02:31,526
<i>[rock music plays]</i>

57
00:02:32,694 --> 00:02:35,572
<i>[tense music]</i>

58
00:02:35,697 --> 00:02:37,407
‐ I love it. I say this.
I say we‐‐again‐‐

59
00:02:37,532 --> 00:02:39,951
Vince used to always tell me
"You go all the way out there,

60
00:02:40,035 --> 00:02:41,161
I'll reel you back in
if I want to,"

61
00:02:41,203 --> 00:02:42,788
you know what I mean?

62
00:02:42,871 --> 00:02:46,416
<i>‐ NXT started out
as a developmental brand</i>

63
00:02:46,541 --> 00:02:48,460
<i>that grooms WWE superstars.</i>

64
00:02:48,543 --> 00:02:51,755
‐ Any kind of count up, DQ,
or whatever ends the match.

65
00:02:51,838 --> 00:02:56,093
‐ There's Shawn's fingerprints
in almost every talent in NXT.

66
00:02:56,176 --> 00:02:57,302
Shawn is very hands on.

67
00:02:57,386 --> 00:02:59,805
‐ Then he sits up behind him
and then whack!

68
00:02:59,888 --> 00:03:02,557
‐ <i>He sold out arenas
all around the world</i>

69
00:03:02,683 --> 00:03:04,434
<i>when he was
the Heartbreak Kid.</i>

70
00:03:04,518 --> 00:03:05,769
He's in a different place
in his life now.

71
00:03:05,852 --> 00:03:08,772
He's humble, he wants
to be behind the scenes.

72
00:03:08,855 --> 00:03:10,315
<i>It isn't about him.</i>

73
00:03:10,399 --> 00:03:12,651
<i>He wants to help others
achieve their dreams.</i>

74
00:03:12,693 --> 00:03:15,153
You've got to say it
with passion and anger.

75
00:03:15,237 --> 00:03:18,365
‐ <i>Here we go, guys,
three, two, one.</i>

76
00:03:18,490 --> 00:03:19,741
‐ <i>Seeing Shawn today,</i>

77
00:03:19,866 --> 00:03:23,829
it's sometimes hard
for people to believe

78
00:03:23,954 --> 00:03:25,831
that's Shawn Michaels.

79
00:03:25,914 --> 00:03:27,374
<i>Certain levels of talent</i>

80
00:03:27,499 --> 00:03:28,959
<i>command certain levels
of respect.</i>

81
00:03:29,042 --> 00:03:31,670
<i>‐ Just attack
of Johnny Gargano.</i>

82
00:03:31,795 --> 00:03:33,130
‐ Oh, jeez.

83
00:03:33,213 --> 00:03:34,631
‐ I added the plexiglass.

84
00:03:34,673 --> 00:03:38,343
‐ <i>His knowledge
and his wisdom of the business</i>

85
00:03:38,468 --> 00:03:41,304
and all that stuff,
it's so valuable.

86
00:03:41,388 --> 00:03:43,056
So excellent job.
Yeah, go, you got this.

87
00:03:43,181 --> 00:03:45,642
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels' life
is a story</i>

88
00:03:45,726 --> 00:03:47,686
<i>that a lot of people
could relate to.</i>

89
00:03:47,811 --> 00:03:49,980
<i>He always wanted more.</i>

90
00:03:50,063 --> 00:03:52,274
It was a life of never enough.

91
00:03:52,357 --> 00:03:55,569
And then,
his life totally changes.

92
00:03:55,694 --> 00:03:58,488
<i>A lot of us have that,
if we're lucky.</i>

93
00:03:58,613 --> 00:04:01,158
I think the Shawn Michaels
story is one that's really cool

94
00:04:01,283 --> 00:04:04,327
and one that all of us
can stand to learn from.

95
00:04:04,411 --> 00:04:08,248
<i>[twangy guitar]</i>

96
00:04:08,373 --> 00:04:11,126
‐ <i>I was born
into a military family.</i>

97
00:04:11,251 --> 00:04:14,087
<i>My father was
in the Air Force.</i>

98
00:04:14,171 --> 00:04:15,422
It was
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom,

99
00:04:15,505 --> 00:04:18,508
but everybody in my family
called me Shawn.

100
00:04:18,633 --> 00:04:23,346
<i>My father was a pilot,
so early on we moved a lot.</i>

101
00:04:23,472 --> 00:04:25,265
<i>He was going to Vietnam.</i>

102
00:04:25,348 --> 00:04:27,476
<i>We went to England,
then Maryland</i>

103
00:04:27,559 --> 00:04:29,853
and then we moved to Texas.

104
00:04:29,978 --> 00:04:31,646
<i>I was about eight‐ish.</i>

105
00:04:31,772 --> 00:04:35,942
<i>From that point on,
I was in the state of Texas.</i>

106
00:04:36,026 --> 00:04:39,863
<i>You don't have long‐lasting
friendships in the Air Force.</i>

107
00:04:39,946 --> 00:04:42,240
<i>The hardest part
for making friends</i>

108
00:04:42,365 --> 00:04:43,533
was having the last name.

109
00:04:43,658 --> 00:04:46,536
The roll call, Hickenbottom,
Michael Hickenbottom.

110
00:04:46,661 --> 00:04:48,163
You could hear the snickers
all over the room.

111
00:04:48,288 --> 00:04:50,540
Hickenbottom. And, of course...

112
00:04:50,665 --> 00:04:51,625
It's like, "Son of a biscuit,

113
00:04:51,708 --> 00:04:53,794
I wish I had
a different last name."

114
00:04:53,877 --> 00:04:56,630
‐ <i>Shawn was well‐loved.</i>

115
00:04:56,713 --> 00:05:01,468
He was always very quiet
and very shy growing up.

116
00:05:01,510 --> 00:05:03,428
He wasn't an extrovert.

117
00:05:03,512 --> 00:05:09,059
t a good, friendly,
nice little boy.

118
00:05:09,184 --> 00:05:10,602
<i>And people liked him.</i>

119
00:05:10,685 --> 00:05:13,313
<i>He was involved in sports
all of his life.</i>

120
00:05:13,396 --> 00:05:17,442
<i>He just enjoyed
doing everything.</i>

121
00:05:17,526 --> 00:05:20,195
‐ <i>I was a big fan
of playing football,</i>

122
00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:21,696
<i>because of the contact.</i>

123
00:05:21,822 --> 00:05:26,618
You know, contact and athletics
were appealing to me.

124
00:05:26,701 --> 00:05:28,745
<i>And then I'm 12 years old,</i>

125
00:05:28,829 --> 00:05:32,165
getting to stay up late
on a Saturday night,

126
00:05:32,249 --> 00:05:34,709
<i>and this wrestling show
starts.</i>

127
00:05:34,835 --> 00:05:37,170
<i>Southwest
Championship Wrestling.</i>

128
00:05:37,295 --> 00:05:38,755
<i>The beginning montage,</i>

129
00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,008
<i>the guy is slow motion
jumping off the top rope.</i>

130
00:05:42,092 --> 00:05:43,844
I was enthralled in it.
It was just‐‐[laughs]

131
00:05:43,969 --> 00:05:45,971
I don't know,
the neatest thing I ever saw.

132
00:05:46,096 --> 00:05:48,056
‐ The best in professional
wrestling and I'm‐‐

133
00:05:48,181 --> 00:05:49,391
<i>‐ After the show,
I walked out</i>

134
00:05:49,474 --> 00:05:50,725
<i>and my mom was in the kitchen.</i>

135
00:05:50,851 --> 00:05:52,978
I said, "I know what I'm
going to do when I grow up."

136
00:05:53,103 --> 00:05:54,479
And she said, "What's that?"

137
00:05:54,604 --> 00:05:55,939
I said, "I'm going to be
a professional wrestler."

138
00:05:56,022 --> 00:05:58,191
She was like,
"Oh, that's nice, honey."

139
00:05:58,275 --> 00:06:02,487
‐ <i>He began to talk about
that's what he wanted to do,</i>

140
00:06:02,571 --> 00:06:06,449
<i>and I was sure that ultimately
he would grow out of that,</i>

141
00:06:06,533 --> 00:06:08,368
but he never did.

142
00:06:08,493 --> 00:06:10,328
‐ <i>Down at the Freeman Coliseum,</i>

143
00:06:10,412 --> 00:06:12,414
Shawn would periodically
get to go,

144
00:06:12,539 --> 00:06:15,000
and, oh,
he saw Tully Blanchard.

145
00:06:15,083 --> 00:06:18,795
‐ <i>Wahoo McDaniel,
Eddie Mansfield, Scott Casey.</i>

146
00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:23,425
‐ <i>Of course, then later,
Ric Flair was a wrestling god,</i>

147
00:06:23,508 --> 00:06:25,594
<i>and he would buy
wrestling magazines,</i>

148
00:06:25,677 --> 00:06:27,554
<i>and he would look
at Ric Flair,</i>

149
00:06:27,679 --> 00:06:28,805
<i>and then he would
stand in the mirror,</i>

150
00:06:28,847 --> 00:06:32,309
and try to talk like him
and look like him.

151
00:06:32,350 --> 00:06:33,768
‐ <i>Being a wrestling fan,</i>

152
00:06:33,852 --> 00:06:37,188
<i>it was really a black sheep
source of mockery.</i>

153
00:06:37,314 --> 00:06:41,276
It's not something you say
with a great deal of pride.

154
00:06:41,359 --> 00:06:42,777
<i>It was just a relationship</i>

155
00:06:42,861 --> 00:06:45,363
between me and wrestling
for a while

156
00:06:45,488 --> 00:06:47,157
and my dad
was an amateur wrestler

157
00:06:47,282 --> 00:06:51,161
at the University of Iowa,
so he was a real wrestler.

158
00:06:51,244 --> 00:06:54,456
And, of course, he just gave
some gruff like, "That's fake."

159
00:06:54,539 --> 00:06:57,000
The kindest thing
I could say about it was

160
00:06:57,125 --> 00:07:01,421
I considered it to be
an athletic soap opera,

161
00:07:01,504 --> 00:07:03,590
which has always been
my description

162
00:07:03,673 --> 00:07:05,383
of professional wrestling.

163
00:07:05,508 --> 00:07:07,302
‐ <i>Then a new kid
gets transferred.</i>

164
00:07:07,385 --> 00:07:09,304
<i>His name is Kenny Kent.</i>

165
00:07:09,346 --> 00:07:12,599
I met Shawn the summer of 1980.

166
00:07:12,682 --> 00:07:14,684
We were sophomores
in high school. Both 15.

167
00:07:14,768 --> 00:07:17,520
<i>He would want to wrestle
and throw around his friends,</i>

168
00:07:17,646 --> 00:07:18,855
<i>and they didn't like it.</i>

169
00:07:18,980 --> 00:07:22,359
And so I instantly became
his little tag team partner

170
00:07:22,484 --> 00:07:24,194
<i>and we would just
bash each other</i>

171
00:07:24,277 --> 00:07:25,737
<i>and throw each other around,</i>

172
00:07:25,862 --> 00:07:27,781
<i>and that's really what
developed our friendship.</i>

173
00:07:27,864 --> 00:07:31,326
‐ <i>They'd practice out
in the pool. Frightening.</i>

174
00:07:31,451 --> 00:07:32,410
<i>[laughs]</i>

175
00:07:32,535 --> 00:07:35,330
Shawn would lift him
straight him, Kenny,

176
00:07:35,455 --> 00:07:37,457
<i>and then they'd fall
into the pool.</i>

177
00:07:37,540 --> 00:07:39,709
<i>His way of practicing.</i>

178
00:07:39,793 --> 00:07:41,544
‐ <i>Shawn dreamed
of wrestling.</i>

179
00:07:41,670 --> 00:07:43,797
He would call me and
tell me these matches

180
00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,049
that he would lay out
and prepare.

181
00:07:46,174 --> 00:07:47,842
He was really obsessed with it.

182
00:07:47,968 --> 00:07:49,135
[crowd cheering]

183
00:07:49,260 --> 00:07:51,638
‐ <i>In that time,
you struggled back and forth</i>

184
00:07:51,721 --> 00:07:53,390
<i>with people who are
telling you it's fake,</i>

185
00:07:53,515 --> 00:07:55,183
<i>but I am there
watching the guy‐‐whap!</i>

186
00:07:55,308 --> 00:07:59,062
I mean, hitting the guy
and sweat's flying off.

187
00:07:59,187 --> 00:08:01,398
<i>There's something to it.</i>

188
00:08:01,523 --> 00:08:03,775
They've got me
hook, line, and sinker.

189
00:08:03,858 --> 00:08:05,485
‐ <i>We were a very small school.</i>

190
00:08:05,568 --> 00:08:06,820
<i>We did not have
a wrestling team.</i>

191
00:08:06,903 --> 00:08:09,656
But our senior year,
we had a talent show

192
00:08:09,739 --> 00:08:11,032
and it was Shawn's idea

193
00:08:11,157 --> 00:08:13,618
that me and him were gonna
do a wrestling match.

194
00:08:13,702 --> 00:08:14,995
<i>Everything was going
quite well</i>

195
00:08:15,078 --> 00:08:18,540
until I threw Shawn
off the stage into the crowd,

196
00:08:18,665 --> 00:08:21,710
and beat his head on the table
a couple of times.

197
00:08:21,835 --> 00:08:24,629
<i>There was just blood gushing
all over his head.</i>

198
00:08:24,713 --> 00:08:26,464
<i>And people are going nuts.</i>

199
00:08:26,548 --> 00:08:29,009
‐ I think we came in second.
We didn't win.

200
00:08:29,134 --> 00:08:31,928
‐ <i>We got beat
by a group of cheerleaders</i>

201
00:08:32,012 --> 00:08:35,473
so, you know, two guys
in little tightie whities

202
00:08:35,557 --> 00:08:39,602
versus cheerleaders,
they're gonna win every time.

203
00:08:39,686 --> 00:08:40,937
‐ We graduate,

204
00:08:41,021 --> 00:08:42,689
and then it's
"What are you gonna do?"

205
00:08:42,814 --> 00:08:44,315
Well, have you decided
what you want?"

206
00:08:44,399 --> 00:08:46,109
"I still want
to be a wrestler."

207
00:08:46,192 --> 00:08:49,154
<i>I recognized that I said it
when I was 12,</i>

208
00:08:49,237 --> 00:08:53,867
<i>but it's just been
a big, big part of my life.</i>

209
00:08:53,992 --> 00:08:56,244
Okay, that's awesome.
That's not a possibility.

210
00:08:56,369 --> 00:08:58,830
‐ <i>But, you know, at 17,
you look at him and you think</i>

211
00:08:58,913 --> 00:09:00,832
<i>you don't know
what you're talking about.</i>

212
00:09:00,957 --> 00:09:02,208
We said,
"You're going to college."

213
00:09:02,333 --> 00:09:05,086
‐ <i>There wasn't
a lot of open understanding</i>

214
00:09:05,170 --> 00:09:06,296
<i>in what I was doing.</i>

215
00:09:06,421 --> 00:09:09,591
‐ <i>We went off to Southwest
Texas State University.</i>

216
00:09:09,674 --> 00:09:10,967
<i>When we lived together
at college,</i>

217
00:09:11,092 --> 00:09:13,136
<i>there were many nights
I would hear him</i>

218
00:09:13,219 --> 00:09:15,096
and he's standing there
with his shirt off

219
00:09:15,180 --> 00:09:17,515
and he'd be talking
and screaming at the mirror,

220
00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:19,267
<i>practicing.</i>

221
00:09:19,350 --> 00:09:21,269
At the end
of his second semester,

222
00:09:21,352 --> 00:09:25,315
I think his GPA was 0.4.

223
00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:26,816
<i>School just wasn't for him,</i>

224
00:09:26,941 --> 00:09:29,319
<i>and he was ready to make his
move into the wrestling world.</i>

225
00:09:29,402 --> 00:09:30,862
‐ <i>Essentially, he said,</i>

226
00:09:30,945 --> 00:09:34,866
"I don't want to waste anymore
of my time or your money.

227
00:09:34,991 --> 00:09:38,369
I am going to be
a professional wrestler."

228
00:09:38,495 --> 00:09:39,996
‐ <i>My dad played golf
with this guy,</i>

229
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,333
and apparently he's the guy
that's a local promoter

230
00:09:43,374 --> 00:09:45,960
<i>here in San Antonio.</i>

231
00:09:46,086 --> 00:09:49,089
We go down there,
and Jose Lothario was there.

232
00:09:49,172 --> 00:09:53,593
‐ From San Antonio, Texas,
superstar Jose Lothario.

233
00:09:53,676 --> 00:09:55,261
‐ <i>I understood
he was a legitimate name.</i>

234
00:09:55,345 --> 00:09:57,764
<i>The gentleman stated
"Well, he has to be trained.</i>

235
00:09:57,847 --> 00:10:00,600
<i>"Jose could do the training
if you wanted.</i>

236
00:10:00,683 --> 00:10:03,311
It's gonna cost $3,000."

237
00:10:03,436 --> 00:10:05,647
‐ <i>I thought
about facing him</i>

238
00:10:05,730 --> 00:10:08,983
<i>when he was 35
or 40 years old,</i>

239
00:10:09,067 --> 00:10:10,485
and having him say

240
00:10:10,610 --> 00:10:14,489
"Dad, if you'd have
just given me the chance,

241
00:10:14,572 --> 00:10:17,492
I could have been
a professional wrestler."

242
00:10:17,575 --> 00:10:19,577
And I couldn't face
that thought.

243
00:10:19,702 --> 00:10:27,502
And so I said,
"What the hell."

244
00:10:27,627 --> 00:10:31,965
<i>[soft music]</i>

245
00:10:32,048 --> 00:10:33,800
‐ <i>You know,
I wake up every day</i>

246
00:10:33,883 --> 00:10:37,804
<i>never forgetting
what I did for a living.</i>

247
00:10:37,929 --> 00:10:40,682
<i>I sort of developed a habit
getting up in the morning,</i>

248
00:10:40,765 --> 00:10:42,725
<i>stretching
and then the heat pad.</i>

249
00:10:42,851 --> 00:10:45,061
Over the years, you just
come up with a system

250
00:10:45,186 --> 00:10:48,857
that your body responds
well to.

251
00:10:48,982 --> 00:10:52,152
<i>I do some form of training
every day, you know,</i>

252
00:10:52,235 --> 00:10:55,363
<i>to be comfortable
for the rest of the day.</i>

253
00:10:55,488 --> 00:10:58,491
I plan on getting, you know,
new knees, knee replacements

254
00:10:58,616 --> 00:11:00,201
and shoulder replacements.

255
00:11:00,285 --> 00:11:03,872
<i>Those things are gonna add
to my quality of life.</i>

256
00:11:03,997 --> 00:11:05,540
<i>It's not like
I got into this stuff thinking</i>

257
00:11:05,665 --> 00:11:10,295
<i>I want to be independently
wealthy and be 100% healthy.</i>

258
00:11:10,420 --> 00:11:11,504
<i>That doesn't happen.</i>

259
00:11:11,629 --> 00:11:13,173
So I don't know,
I don't mind it.

260
00:11:13,298 --> 00:11:17,135
I don't think that's some big,
crazy sacrifice.

261
00:11:17,218 --> 00:11:20,263
<i>♪</i>

262
00:11:22,599 --> 00:11:25,143
<i>[upbeat music playing]</i>

263
00:11:25,268 --> 00:11:30,815
‐ <i>I first came
across Shawn Michaels in 1983.</i>

264
00:11:30,899 --> 00:11:32,358
Shawn was training
with a gentleman

265
00:11:32,483 --> 00:11:34,068
by the name of Jose Lothario.

266
00:11:34,194 --> 00:11:37,864
<i>Jose was a big star
in Houston, Texas,</i>

267
00:11:37,947 --> 00:11:39,908
<i>Dallas, San Antonio.</i>

268
00:11:40,033 --> 00:11:43,703
‐ <i>He was Hispanic,
so there was a Luchador style.</i>

269
00:11:43,828 --> 00:11:46,748
<i>It was the aerial side
of things.</i>

270
00:11:46,831 --> 00:11:49,042
<i>Thankfully,
in all of that process,</i>

271
00:11:49,167 --> 00:11:53,463
he saw that, "Oh, my goodness,
he's actually pretty good."

272
00:11:53,546 --> 00:11:55,965
<i>It was worth
the $3,000, period,</i>

273
00:11:56,049 --> 00:11:58,593
for him to get me
my first job in Louisiana,

274
00:11:58,676 --> 00:11:59,928
<i>and that could not
have happened</i>

275
00:12:00,011 --> 00:12:01,262
<i>without Jose Lothario.</i>

276
00:12:01,346 --> 00:12:05,725
‐ <i>The pride of Vero Beach,
Florida, Terry Taylor.</i>

277
00:12:05,850 --> 00:12:07,644
‐ <i>The first time
I met Shawn Michaels</i>

278
00:12:07,727 --> 00:12:09,562
<i>working for Mid‐South,</i>

279
00:12:09,687 --> 00:12:12,148
there was this young,
innocent, cheerful,

280
00:12:12,232 --> 00:12:13,816
vibrant sort of

281
00:12:13,942 --> 00:12:15,944
<i>lost young man.</i>

282
00:12:16,027 --> 00:12:17,987
‐ <i>I was scared
of everything.</i>

283
00:12:18,071 --> 00:12:20,823
It was a lot of confusion,
a lot of unknown.

284
00:12:20,949 --> 00:12:23,826
How in God's name
is this supposed to go on?

285
00:12:23,910 --> 00:12:24,953
<i>[upbeat music]</i>

286
00:12:25,036 --> 00:12:26,329
<i>I came walking
through the back,</i>

287
00:12:26,412 --> 00:12:28,456
<i>and Terry Taylor was
standing there at the curtain.</i>

288
00:12:28,539 --> 00:12:30,083
‐ I said, "How long have you
been in the business?"

289
00:12:30,166 --> 00:12:31,709
And he goes,
"That was my first match."

290
00:12:31,834 --> 00:12:34,629
And I couldn't believe it,
because this isn't easy.

291
00:12:34,712 --> 00:12:36,005
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels.</i>

292
00:12:36,089 --> 00:12:38,967
A very young man,
and very inexperienced,

293
00:12:39,092 --> 00:12:41,511
but he has a great deal
of natural athletic ability.

294
00:12:41,636 --> 00:12:44,097
‐ <i>We drove
3,000 miles a week.</i>

295
00:12:44,180 --> 00:12:45,640
That means there's
a lot of time

296
00:12:45,682 --> 00:12:46,891
that you're in the car
doing this,

297
00:12:46,975 --> 00:12:48,184
<i>and he would ask questions.</i>

298
00:12:48,309 --> 00:12:50,645
‐ <i>A young man
who is quite handsome.</i>

299
00:12:50,728 --> 00:12:52,814
‐ <i>I was very well mannered,
I was quiet,</i>

300
00:12:52,939 --> 00:12:54,315
and I wanted to do
nothing but learn.

301
00:12:54,399 --> 00:12:56,943
‐ <i>Some young people
come in, "I know everything."</i>

302
00:12:57,026 --> 00:12:58,903
<i>Nothing like that with Shawn.</i>

303
00:12:59,028 --> 00:13:02,156
<i>Humble, passionate,
driven, hungry.</i>

304
00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:03,825
[crowd cheers]

305
00:13:03,866 --> 00:13:06,703
‐ <i>At about six months,
the owner, Bill Watts,</i>

306
00:13:06,828 --> 00:13:10,748
<i>came to me and he got me
set up in Kansas City.</i>

307
00:13:10,873 --> 00:13:13,084
I was going to have
the opportunity to begin

308
00:13:13,167 --> 00:13:17,463
to grow as a wrestler,
as a performer.

309
00:13:17,588 --> 00:13:19,090
‐ <i>We're hearing
all this, like,</i>

310
00:13:19,173 --> 00:13:20,967
<i>this guy Shawn Michaels,
Shawn Michaels is coming in.</i>

311
00:13:21,009 --> 00:13:22,885
We're like,
"Damn, nobody has gotten

312
00:13:23,011 --> 00:13:24,846
"any attention like this.

313
00:13:24,971 --> 00:13:26,431
What's wrong with us?"

314
00:13:26,514 --> 00:13:27,932
<i>We walked in the dressing room</i>

315
00:13:28,016 --> 00:13:30,059
<i>and this guy had
real short hair,</i>

316
00:13:30,184 --> 00:13:33,396
green tights pulled up
to under his chest.

317
00:13:33,479 --> 00:13:34,981
<i>Let me ask this nerd, like,</i>

318
00:13:35,064 --> 00:13:36,983
<i>"Hey, do you know
who Shawn Michaels is?"</i>

319
00:13:37,066 --> 00:13:39,652
And he leaned back he goes,
"I'm Shawn Michaels."

320
00:13:39,736 --> 00:13:41,446
[laughs]

321
00:13:41,529 --> 00:13:43,990
I was like, "Oh, damn,
we got some work to do."

322
00:13:44,073 --> 00:13:45,116
<i>They threw us
together because</i>

323
00:13:45,199 --> 00:13:46,367
<i>they needed
a match real quick.</i>

324
00:13:46,492 --> 00:13:50,788
We didn't have time to prepare
for it, but it clicked.

325
00:13:50,872 --> 00:13:52,332
‐ <i>Marty Jannetty.</i>

326
00:13:52,373 --> 00:13:54,959
‐ <i>Marty just carried himself
with such confidence.</i>

327
00:13:55,043 --> 00:13:57,962
<i>He was enjoying himself.
He was outgoing.</i>

328
00:13:58,046 --> 00:14:01,466
I was so sort of shy,
conservative.

329
00:14:01,549 --> 00:14:02,717
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels.</i>

330
00:14:02,842 --> 00:14:04,552
‐ <i>Shawn came
from a military family.</i>

331
00:14:04,635 --> 00:14:09,015
<i>Shawn was protected
from a lot of the evils</i>

332
00:14:09,140 --> 00:14:11,267
that lurk in the real world

333
00:14:11,351 --> 00:14:13,436
<i>and having some notoriety,
being on television,</i>

334
00:14:13,519 --> 00:14:16,439
<i>you've got women, you've got
alcohol, you've got drugs.</i>

335
00:14:16,522 --> 00:14:19,567
And it's all readily
available to you.

336
00:14:19,650 --> 00:14:21,152
‐ <i>Yeah,
he liked it right away.</i>

337
00:14:21,235 --> 00:14:23,905
<i>At first,
he wasn't old enough,</i>

338
00:14:23,988 --> 00:14:25,239
so he had to wait
in the parking lot.

339
00:14:25,365 --> 00:14:28,576
We'd bring girls down to him
and beer down to him.

340
00:14:28,701 --> 00:14:30,161
‐ <i>Marty Jannetty
one day said,</i>

341
00:14:30,244 --> 00:14:34,207
"I see something in you
that's just dying to get out."

342
00:14:34,332 --> 00:14:35,708
He said,
"You just need somebody

343
00:14:35,833 --> 00:14:37,126
"to bring it out of you,

344
00:14:37,210 --> 00:14:38,711
and I'm gonna bring it out."

345
00:14:38,836 --> 00:14:41,422
‐ <i>From the Showboat
Hotel and Casino</i>

346
00:14:41,506 --> 00:14:43,132
<i>in Las Vegas, Nevada,</i>

347
00:14:43,216 --> 00:14:46,928
<i>this is AWA Championship
Wrestling on ESPN.</i>

348
00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:48,805
‐ <i>So, I was 20 years old.</i>

349
00:14:48,888 --> 00:14:51,349
<i>TV tapings are in Las Vegas.</i>

350
00:14:51,474 --> 00:14:53,142
<i>At that time,
Marty and I, you know,</i>

351
00:14:53,226 --> 00:14:54,143
<i>I knew he was out there,</i>

352
00:14:54,227 --> 00:14:57,271
so we just started
looking around.

353
00:14:57,355 --> 00:14:58,481
<i>[upbeat music]</i>

354
00:14:58,523 --> 00:15:01,651
All of a sudden there he is,
he's down there playing.

355
00:15:01,734 --> 00:15:03,069
And go down there,

356
00:15:03,194 --> 00:15:05,696
and I went and just do‐do‐do,
pulled it down.

357
00:15:05,780 --> 00:15:06,906
‐ <i>I'm sitting there with him,</i>

358
00:15:07,031 --> 00:15:08,157
<i>and all of the sudden
we hear this,</i>

359
00:15:08,282 --> 00:15:09,742
"Ding, ding, ding,
ding, ding, ding."

360
00:15:09,826 --> 00:15:14,288
Red lights go flashing around,
and Shawn hit triple 7s.

361
00:15:14,372 --> 00:15:17,208
Won 750 bucks
the first time.

362
00:15:17,333 --> 00:15:21,796
The irony of it now, like,
oh, this place was‐‐

363
00:15:21,879 --> 00:15:22,964
<i>Vegas and the nightlife
of Vegas</i>

364
00:15:23,089 --> 00:15:24,674
<i>and everything else
would be my down‐‐</i>

365
00:15:24,757 --> 00:15:25,967
[laughs]
Would be my downfall.

366
00:15:26,008 --> 00:15:27,802
It started later that night.

367
00:15:27,844 --> 00:15:30,680
<i>It's the first line of yayo,
you know.</i>

368
00:15:30,805 --> 00:15:33,224
[laughs]
The first line of blow.

369
00:15:33,349 --> 00:15:37,437
And it's, "Oh, my gosh, this
is the greatest thing ever."

370
00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,648
<i>And it's just this
whole world opens up.</i>

371
00:15:40,731 --> 00:15:43,192
<i>I'd have never been able
to get that guy out of me,</i>

372
00:15:43,317 --> 00:15:46,320
<i>and Marty is the guy
that helped tap into that.</i>

373
00:15:46,404 --> 00:15:48,573
I don't even know
how much I knew was there.

374
00:15:48,698 --> 00:15:49,824
<i>♪</i>

375
00:15:49,866 --> 00:15:52,869
‐ <i>Me and Shawn partied
Monday night, Tuesday night,</i>

376
00:15:52,994 --> 00:15:54,662
Wednesday night,
Thursday night.

377
00:15:54,745 --> 00:15:56,164
Come Friday,
we were burned out.

378
00:15:56,205 --> 00:15:59,125
<i>Big Van Vader,
he comes to hang out with us.</i>

379
00:15:59,208 --> 00:16:01,461
<i>He looked at Curt Hennig
and he goes,</i>

380
00:16:01,544 --> 00:16:04,005
"I thought you said
these guys partied."

381
00:16:04,130 --> 00:16:06,716
And Curt said, "They don't
start until midnight."

382
00:16:06,841 --> 00:16:08,134
‐ <i>The Midnight Rockers.</i>

383
00:16:08,259 --> 00:16:10,344
<i>What a sensational pair
they are.</i>

384
00:16:10,470 --> 00:16:13,973
‐ It was like magic.
The Judas Priest song come on.

385
00:16:14,056 --> 00:16:17,143
‐ <i>They love to party.</i>

386
00:16:17,185 --> 00:16:18,853
‐ <i>They've taken
the AWA by storm.</i>

387
00:16:18,936 --> 00:16:19,979
‐ <i>The move
happening faster</i>

388
00:16:20,104 --> 00:16:21,397
<i>than we can
even talk about it.</i>

389
00:16:21,522 --> 00:16:22,857
‐ <i>They've got to put
a bigger roof on the arenas</i>

390
00:16:22,982 --> 00:16:24,150
<i>to hold these two kids in it.</i>

391
00:16:24,275 --> 00:16:26,861
‐ <i>These two
are indeed sensational,</i>

392
00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:28,154
<i>to say the least.</i>

393
00:16:28,237 --> 00:16:31,616
<i>‐ ♪ Living after midnight</i>

394
00:16:31,699 --> 00:16:33,993
<i>♪ Rocking 'til the dawn</i>

395
00:16:34,076 --> 00:16:35,703
[crowd cheering]

396
00:16:35,786 --> 00:16:39,207
‐ <i>Midnight Rockers had
a hell of a run in the AWA.</i>

397
00:16:39,332 --> 00:16:41,334
<i>They'd had TV on ESPN.</i>

398
00:16:41,375 --> 00:16:42,877
‐ The World
Tag Team Championship

399
00:16:43,002 --> 00:16:44,962
is Marty Jannetty
and Shawn Michaels' goal.

400
00:16:45,087 --> 00:16:46,172
‐ <i>They were smaller guys,</i>

401
00:16:46,297 --> 00:16:48,716
but they could work
with the giants

402
00:16:48,841 --> 00:16:50,551
and have a great match.

403
00:16:50,676 --> 00:16:52,136
[crowd cheering]

404
00:16:52,220 --> 00:16:53,679
‐ <i>The Tag Team
Championship of the World</i>

405
00:16:53,804 --> 00:16:56,891
<i>is what they are fighting for
here tonight.</i>

406
00:16:57,016 --> 00:16:59,018
<i>‐ I think he cracked
his head on the cement</i>

407
00:16:59,143 --> 00:17:00,937
<i>when he went out there.</i>

408
00:17:01,020 --> 00:17:02,605
‐ <i>The blood match,
if you will,</i>

409
00:17:02,688 --> 00:17:06,150
<i>was the first time that a
national audience got exposed</i>

410
00:17:06,275 --> 00:17:08,903
to the talent
of the Midnight Rockers.

411
00:17:08,986 --> 00:17:11,322
‐ <i>This is absolute mayhem.</i>

412
00:17:11,405 --> 00:17:14,617
‐ The match itself
was very bloody, very gory.

413
00:17:14,700 --> 00:17:17,036
‐ <i>One of the
toughest, roughest matches</i>

414
00:17:17,161 --> 00:17:19,247
<i>that we have ever seen.</i>

415
00:17:19,372 --> 00:17:20,498
‐ <i>That was kind of like</i>

416
00:17:20,581 --> 00:17:22,333
<i>a defining moment
in their career,</i>

417
00:17:22,416 --> 00:17:25,419
that they were made
at that level.

418
00:17:26,212 --> 00:17:28,089
‐ <i>If we was on the road
300 days a year,</i>

419
00:17:28,172 --> 00:17:29,924
<i>we partied 290 of them.</i>

420
00:17:30,007 --> 00:17:31,217
[laughs]

421
00:17:31,300 --> 00:17:32,927
<i>We used to do a lot of drugs.</i>

422
00:17:33,010 --> 00:17:34,637
There was a lot
of powder around.

423
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,181
‐ <i>You look at rock stars
and you look at rock bands.</i>

424
00:17:37,265 --> 00:17:41,394
There was a tendency to want
to go wild and destroy things.

425
00:17:41,519 --> 00:17:43,229
<i>It's fun when you're young,</i>

426
00:17:43,312 --> 00:17:45,106
<i>because you feel like a rebel.</i>

427
00:17:45,189 --> 00:17:47,191
<i>We've made it, man.
Look at this.</i>

428
00:17:47,316 --> 00:17:49,360
And throw a beer bottle
up against the wall,

429
00:17:49,443 --> 00:17:51,529
and it was, like,
oh, we'll pay for it later.

430
00:17:51,654 --> 00:17:53,239
‐ <i>We always did the job,</i>

431
00:17:53,322 --> 00:17:54,407
<i>but it was just partying
all night.</i>

432
00:17:54,532 --> 00:17:56,742
Destroy your room
at the Showboat

433
00:17:56,867 --> 00:17:59,996
and we got the entire, uh, AWA,

434
00:18:00,037 --> 00:18:02,999
the entire company
got kicked out of there.

435
00:18:03,124 --> 00:18:07,211
<i>It wasn't very long
that we had a reputation.</i>

436
00:18:07,336 --> 00:18:12,174
And once you get it, everybody
else knows you got it.

437
00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:15,136
<i>WWE was starting
to really separate itself.</i>

438
00:18:15,219 --> 00:18:16,137
If that's where
you wanted to go,

439
00:18:16,220 --> 00:18:18,139
that's where you
set your goals.

440
00:18:18,180 --> 00:18:22,810
<i>Finally, Marty got the call
to go into New York.</i>

441
00:18:22,893 --> 00:18:28,691
‐ <i>In 1987, the Rockers
started in Buffalo, New York.</i>

442
00:18:28,816 --> 00:18:32,737
Marty and Shawn looked
at this as their big break.

443
00:18:32,862 --> 00:18:35,031
<i>That night in the bar,</i>

444
00:18:35,156 --> 00:18:37,450
the other talent
looked at Shawn and Marty

445
00:18:37,533 --> 00:18:42,163
as these two young punks
with a chip on their shoulder.

446
00:18:42,246 --> 00:18:43,581
<i>They're gonna have to earn</i>

447
00:18:43,664 --> 00:18:46,626
<i>the respect
of the WWE locker room.</i>

448
00:18:46,709 --> 00:18:49,170
‐ <i>We were scared, man.
We were scared.</i>

449
00:18:49,295 --> 00:18:53,257
So that night, that's why
we kind of kept to ourselves,

450
00:18:53,341 --> 00:18:55,051
and Terry Garvin come up
and he said,

451
00:18:55,176 --> 00:18:56,135
"No, don't do that.

452
00:18:56,218 --> 00:18:58,679
Don't do that.
Y'all have to mingle."

453
00:18:58,804 --> 00:19:02,558
‐ <i>And then all of a sudden
Jimmy Jack Funk, he came over.</i>

454
00:19:02,642 --> 00:19:05,853
<i>He's hammering down these
drinks and he's like, "Hey!</i>

455
00:19:05,936 --> 00:19:07,313
<i>You guys are big partiers!"</i>

456
00:19:07,396 --> 00:19:12,443
<i>He starts eating his glass.
"Come on let's do it."</i>

457
00:19:12,526 --> 00:19:13,986
<i>I at least
gotta be a little tough.</i>

458
00:19:14,111 --> 00:19:17,657
<i>So then I break
a wine glass over my head.</i>

459
00:19:17,740 --> 00:19:21,786
<i>And that was it,
I turn around, I leave.</i>

460
00:19:21,869 --> 00:19:23,496
I would never say
we didn't earn

461
00:19:23,537 --> 00:19:24,747
our reputations,
any of that,

462
00:19:24,872 --> 00:19:25,915
but the wrestling business

463
00:19:25,998 --> 00:19:27,208
is one giant
fish story, all right?

464
00:19:27,291 --> 00:19:29,293
So something happened once
in the wrestling business,

465
00:19:29,418 --> 00:19:31,796
that gets magnified
to ten times.

466
00:19:31,879 --> 00:19:33,297
‐ <i>Some people say</i>

467
00:19:33,381 --> 00:19:35,633
<i>that Shawn or Marty
threw a beer bottle,</i>

468
00:19:35,716 --> 00:19:41,222
which started a chain of events
that couldn't be stopped.

469
00:19:41,347 --> 00:19:42,890
<i>‐ "And then these two guys,</i>

470
00:19:42,973 --> 00:19:44,642
<i>"I mean, they're in there
just getting crazy,</i>

471
00:19:44,767 --> 00:19:48,312
<i>tearing up the bar, throwing
stuff all over the place."</i>

472
00:19:48,437 --> 00:19:52,274
And that's not at all
what happened.

473
00:19:52,358 --> 00:19:56,070
‐ <i>The next day,
Shawn and Marty were fired,</i>

474
00:19:56,195 --> 00:19:58,906
and it was over for them
after one day,

475
00:19:59,031 --> 00:20:03,828
from just the story
and the hearsay and innuendo.

476
00:20:03,911 --> 00:20:06,372
<i>‐ I normally
give reasons as to, you know,</i>

477
00:20:06,497 --> 00:20:09,041
why I'm gonna do something
and I'm sure I did with them,

478
00:20:09,166 --> 00:20:12,461
but that was one and done, out.

479
00:20:12,545 --> 00:20:14,880
‐ <i>He said,
"The guys don't like it."</i>

480
00:20:14,964 --> 00:20:17,258
<i>He said, "They won't let you
make it here."</i>

481
00:20:17,341 --> 00:20:22,805
In my mind,
I'm 23 and it's over.

482
00:20:22,888 --> 00:20:26,142
That was my one big shot.

483
00:20:26,267 --> 00:20:29,311
It happened now and it's gone.

484
00:20:33,983 --> 00:20:36,986
‐ Take a look at Takeover.

485
00:20:37,069 --> 00:20:38,821
We'll watch it,
and I'll Skull you.

486
00:20:38,904 --> 00:20:39,822
‐ Okay.

487
00:20:39,905 --> 00:20:41,157
[laughs]

488
00:20:41,282 --> 00:20:43,534
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels
put his heart and soul</i>

489
00:20:43,617 --> 00:20:45,119
into being
the best pro wrestler

490
00:20:45,202 --> 00:20:46,412
that he could possibly be,

491
00:20:46,537 --> 00:20:49,498
and he does
the exact same thing

492
00:20:49,623 --> 00:20:51,584
as a coach
and as producer.

493
00:20:51,709 --> 00:20:53,461
‐ Stop there
and look at each other.

494
00:20:53,544 --> 00:20:55,421
Can that stuff take
a little longer?

495
00:20:55,504 --> 00:20:57,590
‐ <i>He will find ways
to pick apart</i>

496
00:20:57,673 --> 00:20:59,717
<i>every little thing
to make it better.</i>

497
00:20:59,842 --> 00:21:02,136
‐ Aim for the head.

498
00:21:02,219 --> 00:21:03,637
You can't hold back on that,

499
00:21:03,721 --> 00:21:05,556
because that's gonna cause you
not to get all the way around.

500
00:21:05,681 --> 00:21:07,308
‐ <i>Shawn has this
amazing ability</i>

501
00:21:07,433 --> 00:21:10,144
to instill a confidence in you.

502
00:21:10,227 --> 00:21:11,896
This was a tremendous bout.

503
00:21:12,021 --> 00:21:13,814
‐ <i>I mean, someone
like Shawn Michaels</i>

504
00:21:13,898 --> 00:21:16,484
gives that to you, that's all
the motivation that you need.

505
00:21:16,609 --> 00:21:20,780
[laughter]

506
00:21:22,364 --> 00:21:25,159
[crowd cheering]

507
00:21:25,242 --> 00:21:27,495
‐ <i>The unfortunate byproduct</i>

508
00:21:27,620 --> 00:21:33,542
<i>of Shawn and Marty being fired
after their first day in WWE</i>

509
00:21:33,626 --> 00:21:37,171
is Marty and Shawn had burned
their bridge in the AWA.

510
00:21:37,296 --> 00:21:38,422
Where do you go?

511
00:21:38,506 --> 00:21:39,840
<i>And welcome once again</i>

512
00:21:39,965 --> 00:21:41,467
<i>to Continental Championship
Wrestling and we have‐‐</i>

513
00:21:41,509 --> 00:21:44,762
‐ We ended up
in Birmingham, Alabama.

514
00:21:44,845 --> 00:21:46,555
Continental Wrestling.

515
00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:48,766
<i>I was wrestling
in front of 25 people</i>

516
00:21:48,849 --> 00:21:50,351
<i>at 300 bucks a week.</i>

517
00:21:50,434 --> 00:21:52,812
If you wanted to get $50
in cash,

518
00:21:52,895 --> 00:21:55,439
you get your other $50 in blow,
you could do that.

519
00:21:55,523 --> 00:22:00,194
Which is probably what I did
nine times out of ten.

520
00:22:00,319 --> 00:22:03,614
‐ <i>I heard him talk about
how depressed he was.</i>

521
00:22:03,697 --> 00:22:06,492
<i>At that time, we was
doing a lot of cocaine.</i>

522
00:22:06,534 --> 00:22:07,868
<i>And we would talk
about wrestling</i>

523
00:22:07,952 --> 00:22:11,163
<i>and we would watch wrestling
videos and we would study.</i>

524
00:22:11,247 --> 00:22:12,665
<i>I had to go home
to my girlfriend</i>

525
00:22:12,790 --> 00:22:14,583
<i>like at two or three
or four in the morning.</i>

526
00:22:14,708 --> 00:22:17,211
<i>Sometimes the next
morning sun was out.</i>

527
00:22:17,336 --> 00:22:19,672
<i>And evidently,
the way he says it,</i>

528
00:22:19,797 --> 00:22:22,258
I let him down 'cause
I didn't stay with him more

529
00:22:22,341 --> 00:22:23,801
and he was by himself.

530
00:22:23,884 --> 00:22:25,761
When you're doing cocaine,
you don't want to be alone.

531
00:22:25,845 --> 00:22:28,639
[laughs]

532
00:22:28,681 --> 00:22:30,850
‐ When you're up
at 4:00 in the morning

533
00:22:30,975 --> 00:22:36,438
<i>coming down from the yayo,
that's like, it's very dreary.</i>

534
00:22:36,522 --> 00:22:39,650
<i>Because the low
is just so really low.</i>

535
00:22:39,775 --> 00:22:41,527
<i>I was like,
"Man, if I had a gun,</i>

536
00:22:41,652 --> 00:22:42,820
<i>"this is one
of those times</i>

537
00:22:42,903 --> 00:22:45,823
that I was reckless enough
to have the balls to do it."

538
00:22:45,906 --> 00:22:48,075
<i>At that time, it would
have wrecked my parents.</i>

539
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:53,497
<i>You know, their suffering is
what pulled me back from that.</i>

540
00:22:53,581 --> 00:22:56,083
But the thing is
I never told them the truth.

541
00:22:56,208 --> 00:22:58,252
So I'm not telling like,
"Jeez, Mama, I'm just partying,

542
00:22:58,335 --> 00:23:00,963
getting hammered
and doing blow."

543
00:23:01,005 --> 00:23:04,925
‐ <i>Shawn and Marty,
they wanted to come back.</i>

544
00:23:05,009 --> 00:23:08,012
I remember Pat Patterson giving
them the advice

545
00:23:08,137 --> 00:23:09,555
to continue to work

546
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:15,019
<i>and continue to reverse
the reputation that you have,</i>

547
00:23:15,144 --> 00:23:17,313
and prove to us
that you belong.

548
00:23:17,438 --> 00:23:19,481
And that's what
Marty and Shawn did.

549
00:23:19,565 --> 00:23:21,191
‐ Pat was instrumental
in saying,

550
00:23:21,317 --> 00:23:22,985
"Vince, he's a great talent."

551
00:23:23,027 --> 00:23:25,279
<i>and it is difficult for me
to make that decision,</i>

552
00:23:25,362 --> 00:23:26,697
<i>because he was a jerk.</i>

553
00:23:26,822 --> 00:23:28,324
<i>I mean, doing
some stupid things.</i>

554
00:23:28,407 --> 00:23:30,326
But Pat was right.

555
00:23:30,409 --> 00:23:32,995
‐ <i>I was there in '88
when they came back.</i>

556
00:23:33,078 --> 00:23:34,246
<i>It had been a year</i>

557
00:23:34,330 --> 00:23:37,583
since the Rockers had kinda
screwed up on their first day.

558
00:23:37,666 --> 00:23:40,294
‐ <i>We're gonna bring you back,
but you're on probation.</i>

559
00:23:40,377 --> 00:23:42,004
You know,
keep your [bleep] together.

560
00:23:42,087 --> 00:23:45,007
Yes, sir.

561
00:23:45,132 --> 00:23:46,467
‐ <i>Two newcomers, the Rockers.</i>

562
00:23:46,592 --> 00:23:48,427
<i>These guys are excitement
personified.</i>

563
00:23:48,510 --> 00:23:50,554
<i>They'll be high flying.</i>

564
00:23:50,679 --> 00:23:52,806
<i>‐ I met Shawn in 1990.</i>

565
00:23:52,890 --> 00:23:55,768
<i>They were pretty much,
you know, fun loving guys.</i>

566
00:23:55,851 --> 00:23:57,311
They even tested me
a little bit with their,

567
00:23:57,394 --> 00:23:59,229
you know, their antics.

568
00:23:59,355 --> 00:24:02,483
Actually, you know, they were
both pretty much peckerheads.

569
00:24:02,566 --> 00:24:04,902
I mean, I've got to call
a spade a spade.

570
00:24:05,027 --> 00:24:06,487
‐ <i>The Rockers
have got a bag full of tricks</i>

571
00:24:06,612 --> 00:24:07,821
<i>and you ain't
seen nothing yet,</i>

572
00:24:07,947 --> 00:24:09,615
so get ready,
because here we come.

573
00:24:09,698 --> 00:24:11,200
Wow!

574
00:24:11,325 --> 00:24:13,744
<i>‐ They were definitely
innovators</i>

575
00:24:13,869 --> 00:24:16,246
<i>doing tandem moves together.</i>

576
00:24:16,330 --> 00:24:18,999
You know, such a cohesive unit.

577
00:24:19,083 --> 00:24:22,544
The fans went nuts for them,
especially the women.

578
00:24:22,670 --> 00:24:26,215
<i>You know,
the long hair and all that.</i>

579
00:24:26,298 --> 00:24:27,216
‐ <i>There was a transitional
moment</i>

580
00:24:27,299 --> 00:24:29,468
<i>happening in the business</i>

581
00:24:29,510 --> 00:24:32,012
<i>where the athleticism
was picking up.</i>

582
00:24:32,137 --> 00:24:36,350
The ability to do things that
Shawn and Marty could do.

583
00:24:36,475 --> 00:24:38,060
‐ <i>Oh, what a backdrop!</i>

584
00:24:38,185 --> 00:24:40,145
‐ <i>Tag team wrestling now</i>

585
00:24:40,229 --> 00:24:43,273
has been impacted a great deal
by what Marty and I did.

586
00:24:43,357 --> 00:24:44,817
[camera shutter clicking]

587
00:24:44,900 --> 00:24:47,695
‐ <i>The first time you ever
make a magazine is huge,</i>

588
00:24:47,820 --> 00:24:50,239
and we would always go
to the stores,

589
00:24:50,364 --> 00:24:51,699
stop and look
at the magazine racks.

590
00:24:51,824 --> 00:24:54,827
I remember one time
I heard Shawn "Oh, my God!"

591
00:24:54,868 --> 00:24:55,995
<i>And there was a picture of us.</i>

592
00:24:56,078 --> 00:24:59,540
<i>It said
"From Imitators To Innovators"</i>

593
00:24:59,623 --> 00:25:01,542
<i>and he's holding it up
and he was so proud</i>

594
00:25:01,667 --> 00:25:05,129
and I was, like, "Oh, man!
Yeah, we did it!

595
00:25:05,170 --> 00:25:06,213
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels,</i>

596
00:25:06,296 --> 00:25:09,258
<i>Marty Jannetty, the Rockers.</i>

597
00:25:09,341 --> 00:25:11,218
‐ <i>That's a real
notch in the belt,</i>

598
00:25:11,343 --> 00:25:13,470
to be on Saturday night's
main event.

599
00:25:13,595 --> 00:25:14,722
‐ <i>Saturday night's
main event</i>

600
00:25:14,847 --> 00:25:16,932
<i>was finally going
to be the Rockers</i>

601
00:25:17,016 --> 00:25:19,476
winning
the Tag Team Championship

602
00:25:19,601 --> 00:25:22,688
against Bret Hart
and Jim the Anvil Neidhart.

603
00:25:22,813 --> 00:25:24,982
‐ It was gonna be five stars.

604
00:25:25,024 --> 00:25:27,234
It was gonna be as good
a match as we ever had.

605
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:28,986
[crowd cheering]

606
00:25:29,028 --> 00:25:31,822
‐ <i>We're in the process
of having that match,</i>

607
00:25:31,905 --> 00:25:35,617
and all of a sudden,
the rope breaks.

608
00:25:35,701 --> 00:25:37,494
<i>Bret, the consummate pro,</i>

609
00:25:37,578 --> 00:25:40,039
<i>he understands it's not live,
it's taped.</i>

610
00:25:40,122 --> 00:25:41,540
<i>We can fix all this.</i>

611
00:25:41,623 --> 00:25:42,916
‐ It's taped.
All you've got to do

612
00:25:43,042 --> 00:25:45,002
<i>is grab a hold
and then they'll fix it</i>

613
00:25:45,127 --> 00:25:46,670
<i>and then you're still
in that hold,</i>

614
00:25:46,754 --> 00:25:48,047
<i>then the match can carry on.</i>

615
00:25:48,172 --> 00:25:50,841
And I told them,
I said, "Just fix the rope."

616
00:25:50,924 --> 00:25:52,926
"Fix the rope, fix the rope.
We'll take care of this."

617
00:25:53,010 --> 00:25:56,764
<i>And then we get word,
just to continue without it,</i>

618
00:25:56,847 --> 00:25:59,141
so that's what we do.

619
00:25:59,266 --> 00:26:03,729
‐ It was a disaster,
and I was so sick about it.

620
00:26:03,812 --> 00:26:05,439
‐ <i>We get our
championship victory.</i>

621
00:26:05,522 --> 00:26:08,192
<i>We are doing our best
to look excited</i>

622
00:26:08,317 --> 00:26:14,656
<i>in what is this huge steaming
pile of crap in the ring.</i>

623
00:26:14,740 --> 00:26:16,241
‐ <i>It just looked horrible.</i>

624
00:26:16,366 --> 00:26:18,285
So the match never aired.

625
00:26:18,368 --> 00:26:19,828
‐ <i>Vince calls me and said,</i>

626
00:26:19,912 --> 00:26:22,539
<i>"We're not going to
acknowledge that you've won.</i>

627
00:26:22,664 --> 00:26:24,333
You're going to give
the belts back.

628
00:26:24,416 --> 00:26:25,542
[scoffs]

629
00:26:25,667 --> 00:26:26,960
<i>‐ Like, okay.</i>

630
00:26:27,044 --> 00:26:28,754
<i>Are we gonna have
another opportunity?</i>

631
00:26:28,837 --> 00:26:33,342
No, probably just gonna
go in other directions.

632
00:26:33,425 --> 00:26:34,760
<i>Unbelievably disappointed,</i>

633
00:26:34,843 --> 00:26:38,138
<i>because that's not what you
imagine that moment being.</i>

634
00:26:38,222 --> 00:26:40,099
<i>Done, it's over.</i>

635
00:26:44,353 --> 00:26:47,397
[crowd cheering]

636
00:26:47,523 --> 00:26:52,778
‐ <i>We were on the road
300 days a year for years.</i>

637
00:26:52,861 --> 00:26:55,823
The same hotels,
same rental car,

638
00:26:55,906 --> 00:26:58,617
some of the same girls.

639
00:26:58,700 --> 00:27:00,828
[crowd cheering]

640
00:27:00,911 --> 00:27:02,663
‐ <i>He kicked his own partner</i>

641
00:27:02,746 --> 00:27:04,498
<i>right in the face.</i>

642
00:27:04,581 --> 00:27:06,834
‐ <i>I remember we were
in Denver.</i>

643
00:27:06,917 --> 00:27:10,629
<i>Roddy Piper came in our room
and we had a few girls there,</i>

644
00:27:10,754 --> 00:27:13,715
and Roddy kept
bragging on Shawn.

645
00:27:13,841 --> 00:27:16,927
‐ <i>He was stirring up the pot
as far as saying,</i>

646
00:27:17,010 --> 00:27:18,554
you know, I could be a singles
and, you know,

647
00:27:18,679 --> 00:27:21,306
have great success
and things like that.

648
00:27:21,390 --> 00:27:23,642
And he'd look at me and go
"We've got to work on you.

649
00:27:23,767 --> 00:27:25,894
You're still rough
around the edges."

650
00:27:26,019 --> 00:27:27,855
<i>I was like,
"Roddy, shouldn't we talk</i>

651
00:27:27,980 --> 00:27:29,773
<i>about that some other time?"</i>

652
00:27:29,857 --> 00:27:32,776
And Shawn shoved me
at that point.

653
00:27:32,860 --> 00:27:34,820
[overlapping chatter]

654
00:27:34,903 --> 00:27:36,488
‐ <i>Everybody got in a fight</i>

655
00:27:36,572 --> 00:27:40,325
because everybody was not
in their best frame of mind,

656
00:27:40,409 --> 00:27:41,702
like all the time.

657
00:27:41,785 --> 00:27:43,203
‐ <i>And he attacked me
in the hallway</i>

658
00:27:43,328 --> 00:27:45,914
<i>and then I didn't want to hit
him once, let alone,</i>

659
00:27:46,039 --> 00:27:47,833
you know, over and over.
Had blood.

660
00:27:47,916 --> 00:27:50,085
Like, it looked like you'd,
you know, gutted a deer

661
00:27:50,169 --> 00:27:51,295
or something.

662
00:27:51,420 --> 00:27:53,172
‐ <i>There was speculation
that Marty Jannetty</i>

663
00:27:53,297 --> 00:27:55,090
<i>and Shawn Michaels
are not getting along.</i>

664
00:27:55,174 --> 00:27:56,967
<i>There was speculation
that Shawn Michaels</i>

665
00:27:57,009 --> 00:27:59,553
<i>is kinda wanting to go
on his own.</i>

666
00:27:59,636 --> 00:28:01,180
‐ <i>All of my success
at that point</i>

667
00:28:01,305 --> 00:28:05,017
was Tag Team, but there
was never a time in my career

668
00:28:05,142 --> 00:28:07,019
<i>where someone didn't
say to me,</i>

669
00:28:07,144 --> 00:28:09,521
<i>like, "I think
you've got some talent."</i>

670
00:28:09,646 --> 00:28:12,858
<i>It was eventually
gonna come down to me.</i>

671
00:28:12,941 --> 00:28:15,152
I remember
the first time he told me,

672
00:28:15,235 --> 00:28:17,029
"I want to be
the World Champion one day.

673
00:28:17,154 --> 00:28:19,823
I don't want to tag
the rest of our career."

674
00:28:19,948 --> 00:28:22,534
"I just need you to let me know
when you're ready for that.

675
00:28:22,659 --> 00:28:23,994
Don't spring it on me."

676
00:28:24,077 --> 00:28:27,247
And then he sprung it
on me anyway.

677
00:28:27,372 --> 00:28:31,168
Welcome to the Barbershop,
ladies and gentlemen.

678
00:28:31,293 --> 00:28:36,298
Let's welcome them right now.
They're the Rockers.

679
00:28:36,423 --> 00:28:37,633
[audience cheering]

680
00:28:37,674 --> 00:28:40,302
Recently there's been
a lot of controversy,

681
00:28:40,427 --> 00:28:41,803
a lot of rumors flying guys.

682
00:28:41,929 --> 00:28:43,805
Maybe you guys are
gonna break up.

683
00:28:43,889 --> 00:28:45,807
You've been having
some problems.

684
00:28:45,891 --> 00:28:47,601
‐ <i>I didn't become familiar
with Shawn</i>

685
00:28:47,684 --> 00:28:52,940
until he showed up in WWE with
Marty Jannetty as the Rockers.

686
00:28:53,023 --> 00:28:55,651
<i>That's my first introduction
to Shawn Michaels.</i>

687
00:28:55,692 --> 00:28:59,071
‐ <i>See, one without
the other isn't any good.</i>

688
00:28:59,154 --> 00:29:01,156
<i>Oh! Oh, I knew
he was gonna do that.</i>

689
00:29:01,281 --> 00:29:03,617
<i>I just knew
he was gonna do that.</i>

690
00:29:03,700 --> 00:29:06,078
[overlapping chatter]

691
00:29:06,203 --> 00:29:08,622
<i>Oh, my God!</i>

692
00:29:08,705 --> 00:29:10,832
‐ <i>I would argue
the Barbershop window</i>

693
00:29:10,916 --> 00:29:13,418
<i>was the greatest tag team
breakup of all time.</i>

694
00:29:13,502 --> 00:29:17,589
It is the standard bearer
for turning on a friend.

695
00:29:17,673 --> 00:29:19,633
‐ The super kick?
Oh, he laid it in.

696
00:29:19,716 --> 00:29:23,053
[laughs]
Oh, he got me back for Denver.

697
00:29:23,178 --> 00:29:24,513
[laughs]

698
00:29:24,638 --> 00:29:27,849
Is there a problem
with the Rockers?

699
00:29:27,975 --> 00:29:30,269
‐ <i>It was so effective</i>

700
00:29:30,352 --> 00:29:35,816
that it makes Shawn one of the
most hated men in wrestling.

701
00:29:35,899 --> 00:29:39,403
<i>Shawn Michaels
changed forever that day.</i>

702
00:29:43,865 --> 00:29:47,744
‐ <i>I had this
strange thing with Marty,</i>

703
00:29:47,869 --> 00:29:50,664
<i>because without him,</i>

704
00:29:50,747 --> 00:29:55,168
so much of the good
doesn't happen for me.

705
00:29:55,294 --> 00:29:58,088
<i>But there's a ceiling
on being a tag team, period,</i>

706
00:29:58,171 --> 00:30:02,634
<i>when it's called a leading man
as opposed to a leading duo.</i>

707
00:30:02,718 --> 00:30:04,678
It's just a natural evolution.

708
00:30:04,761 --> 00:30:06,596
Now everybody is gonna find out

709
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,641
what Shawn Michaels
has known all along,

710
00:30:09,766 --> 00:30:11,101
that he is, without a doubt,

711
00:30:11,184 --> 00:30:13,478
the hottest thing in the WWE

712
00:30:13,562 --> 00:30:15,981
has ever, ever laid eyes on.

713
00:30:16,064 --> 00:30:19,192
[rock music playing]

714
00:30:19,276 --> 00:30:21,987
♪

715
00:30:22,070 --> 00:30:24,865
‐ <i>The Heartbreak Kid,
Shawn Michaels, was something</i>

716
00:30:24,990 --> 00:30:27,659
<i>that Shawn just pretty much
came up with.</i>

717
00:30:27,784 --> 00:30:30,996
I don't think that anybody
really mapped out

718
00:30:31,079 --> 00:30:33,123
The Heartbreak Kid.

719
00:30:33,206 --> 00:30:37,961
‐ <i>It's sort of an Elvis
meets Freddie Mercury.</i>

720
00:30:38,045 --> 00:30:42,132
‐ Shawn Michaels
is leavin' the building!

721
00:30:42,215 --> 00:30:47,637
<i>‐ It was allowing me a vehicle
to let this other person out.</i>

722
00:30:47,763 --> 00:30:49,473
To get out there in front
of a bunch of people

723
00:30:49,556 --> 00:30:53,643
and you can‐‐wow, you can just
be somebody you've never been.

724
00:30:53,769 --> 00:30:55,312
‐ <i>Has this guy got it all
or what?</i>

725
00:30:55,437 --> 00:30:57,564
No, I don't know where
all that came from,

726
00:30:57,689 --> 00:30:59,066
I really don't.

727
00:30:59,191 --> 00:31:01,443
<i>He figured Shawn Michaels
could do whatever he wanted to.</i>

728
00:31:01,526 --> 00:31:03,862
What, an alter ego maybe.

729
00:31:03,987 --> 00:31:06,656
The Kentucky waterfall
mullet alone,

730
00:31:06,740 --> 00:31:10,577
<i>probably one of the greatest
mullets of all time.</i>

731
00:31:10,702 --> 00:31:14,498
<i>The dangling earrings,
the Village People outfit.</i>

732
00:31:14,581 --> 00:31:15,832
<i>Your girlfriend wants him,</i>

733
00:31:15,957 --> 00:31:17,501
<i>you're gonna go over
and kick his ass,</i>

734
00:31:17,626 --> 00:31:20,837
but maybe he's gonna kick
yours and take her anyway.

735
00:31:20,962 --> 00:31:23,423
<i>And that's where his heat was.</i>

736
00:31:23,507 --> 00:31:24,674
‐ <i>I was a pretty kid.</i>

737
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,427
I was a pretty man, I don't
mind telling you, at one time.

738
00:31:27,511 --> 00:31:30,013
<i>I could play
the part of Mr. Confident</i>

739
00:31:30,138 --> 00:31:31,264
<i>and everything else,</i>

740
00:31:31,348 --> 00:31:32,516
<i>and could do everything
under the sun.</i>

741
00:31:32,641 --> 00:31:33,809
Couldn't do a lick.

742
00:31:33,892 --> 00:31:36,520
<i>Elvis and Freddie Mercury
were onstage,</i>

743
00:31:36,645 --> 00:31:39,773
they were so frickin' positive,

744
00:31:39,856 --> 00:31:42,359
but in their lives
they struggled.

745
00:31:42,484 --> 00:31:44,986
<i>There was something
there between me</i>

746
00:31:45,070 --> 00:31:47,656
and those individuals
that I could relate to.

747
00:31:47,739 --> 00:31:49,157
<i>You are not comfortable
with who you are,</i>

748
00:31:49,241 --> 00:31:50,867
<i>you're not comfortable
with yourself.</i>

749
00:31:50,992 --> 00:31:53,412
<i>Not knowing
who I was as a human being,</i>

750
00:31:53,495 --> 00:31:56,123
<i>out there
you're playing this role,</i>

751
00:31:56,206 --> 00:32:00,794
but you can do it
with just unbridled confidence

752
00:32:00,919 --> 00:32:03,046
and you absolutely cannot do it

753
00:32:03,171 --> 00:32:05,715
by yourself
in your own hotel room.

754
00:32:05,841 --> 00:32:06,925
I am a high‐performance,

755
00:32:07,008 --> 00:32:08,635
state‐of‐the‐art
wrestling machine.

756
00:32:08,677 --> 00:32:12,305
‐ <i>I think any great character
will be confused</i>

757
00:32:12,389 --> 00:32:14,516
<i>between the human being
and the character,</i>

758
00:32:14,641 --> 00:32:19,062
and Shawn Hickenbottom kinda
morphed into the Heartbreak Kid

759
00:32:19,187 --> 00:32:20,397
<i>at all times.</i>

760
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,983
<i>Shawn was becoming
a little bit more difficult.</i>

761
00:32:23,066 --> 00:32:24,234
And the Intercontinental title

762
00:32:24,359 --> 00:32:27,237
is coming
to the sexiest man, hey.

763
00:32:27,362 --> 00:32:29,990
‐ <i>The WWE was still
the land of the giants,</i>

764
00:32:30,073 --> 00:32:31,992
<i>and there were still
a lot of big guys,</i>

765
00:32:32,117 --> 00:32:33,994
and Shawn wanted
to break through

766
00:32:34,119 --> 00:32:36,079
what he considered
a glass ceiling of,

767
00:32:36,204 --> 00:32:40,000
"I'm not six‐foot‐eight,
I'm not 300 pounds.

768
00:32:40,125 --> 00:32:44,963
I wanna be what I am,
and I wanna be the guy."

769
00:32:45,046 --> 00:32:46,965
‐ <i>When you are that talented</i>

770
00:32:47,090 --> 00:32:50,010
<i>and that hell‐bent
on succeeding,</i>

771
00:32:50,135 --> 00:32:52,512
but you have the chip
on your shoulder

772
00:32:52,637 --> 00:32:53,722
of being the little guy

773
00:32:53,847 --> 00:32:54,764
to get to where
he needed to be,

774
00:32:54,848 --> 00:32:55,891
he had to stand his ground,

775
00:32:55,974 --> 00:32:57,392
he had to fight
for what he wanted.

776
00:32:57,517 --> 00:32:59,436
‐ <i>I was
at the very least as good</i>

777
00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:01,897
or better than, you know,
anybody else

778
00:33:02,022 --> 00:33:03,857
that I was sharing
a locker room with.

779
00:33:03,982 --> 00:33:05,150
I was getting an opportunity

780
00:33:05,233 --> 00:33:07,194
that not many guys like me
were gonna get.

781
00:33:07,319 --> 00:33:09,988
‐ <i>We got a new
Intercontinental Champion!</i>

782
00:33:10,113 --> 00:33:12,199
‐ <i>Shawn may
have been six‐one,</i>

783
00:33:12,324 --> 00:33:14,618
<i>but his ego and the chip
on his shoulder</i>

784
00:33:14,701 --> 00:33:16,077
made him nine‐foot‐five.

785
00:33:16,161 --> 00:33:17,454
<i>‐ Shawn Michaels,</i>

786
00:33:17,537 --> 00:33:19,539
<i>he's our
Intercontinental Champion!</i>

787
00:33:19,623 --> 00:33:21,291
‐ <i>'92‐'93,</i>

788
00:33:21,374 --> 00:33:23,710
<i>Intercontinental Champion
at the time,</i>

789
00:33:23,835 --> 00:33:25,712
looking for Shawn
to really step up

790
00:33:25,837 --> 00:33:28,089
and become a huge star for us.

791
00:33:28,173 --> 00:33:29,257
‐ <i>One thing I did have</i>

792
00:33:29,341 --> 00:33:31,468
<i>is I wasn't scared
of anything.</i>

793
00:33:31,551 --> 00:33:33,887
<i>I was the most dangerous
person in the world</i>

794
00:33:34,012 --> 00:33:35,514
<i>'cause I had nothing to lose.</i>

795
00:33:35,639 --> 00:33:39,142
<i>And when you are like that
in a creative line of work,</i>

796
00:33:39,267 --> 00:33:43,188
you are frickin' unbeatable.

797
00:33:43,313 --> 00:33:47,025
‐ <i>Welcome to WrestleMania 10!</i>

798
00:33:47,150 --> 00:33:49,194
[cheers and applause]

799
00:33:49,319 --> 00:33:52,405
‐ <i>In the process of studying
Shawn Michael's matches,</i>

800
00:33:52,531 --> 00:33:54,908
the one that many people
go back to

801
00:33:55,033 --> 00:33:56,409
is the infamous ladder match.

802
00:33:56,535 --> 00:33:59,913
<i>The match that Shawn Michaels
and Razor Ramone made famous</i>

803
00:34:00,038 --> 00:34:01,373
<i>at WrestleMania 10.</i>

804
00:34:01,498 --> 00:34:03,124
‐ <i>We are making history here.</i>

805
00:34:03,208 --> 00:34:06,002
‐ <i>So right before
WrestleMania 10, leading up,</i>

806
00:34:06,127 --> 00:34:07,587
there was a suspension
with Shawn,

807
00:34:07,671 --> 00:34:10,215
where Shawn had been out
of the company for a while.

808
00:34:10,340 --> 00:34:13,343
<i>Shawn left as
the Intercontinental Champion.</i>

809
00:34:13,468 --> 00:34:16,179
‐ <i>Yeah, he failed
a drug test for 'roids.</i>

810
00:34:16,304 --> 00:34:17,973
<i>At that time, brother,</i>

811
00:34:18,056 --> 00:34:19,933
pills were bein' passed around
in bars.

812
00:34:20,016 --> 00:34:20,934
Like, guys go, "Here, man.

813
00:34:21,017 --> 00:34:22,811
Canadian Valium,
here take this."

814
00:34:22,852 --> 00:34:24,729
‐ <i>Shawn did not feel</i>

815
00:34:24,854 --> 00:34:28,149
that he should have been
suspended, was pissed off.

816
00:34:28,233 --> 00:34:30,235
<i>Vince didn't wanna put up
with him,</i>

817
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,654
<i>thought he was an out
of control egomaniac.</i>

818
00:34:32,779 --> 00:34:35,156
‐ <i>And they'd tell
Shawn to send the belt back</i>

819
00:34:35,240 --> 00:34:38,118
and he says,
"No, I'm not sending it back."

820
00:34:38,201 --> 00:34:40,537
‐ <i>Shawn decides
he wants to come back.</i>

821
00:34:40,662 --> 00:34:42,539
<i>Well, Razor's the
Intercontinental Champion.</i>

822
00:34:42,622 --> 00:34:44,874
‐ So take both
championship belts,

823
00:34:44,958 --> 00:34:46,084
hang 'em above the ring,

824
00:34:46,167 --> 00:34:48,253
<i>you fight to climb the ladder,</i>

825
00:34:48,336 --> 00:34:50,338
<i>whoever gets the championships
above the ring,</i>

826
00:34:50,463 --> 00:34:52,090
<i>that's your true champion.</i>

827
00:34:52,173 --> 00:34:53,717
‐ <i>The two
Intercontinental Championship</i>

828
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,219
<i>belts hanging from above.</i>

829
00:34:56,344 --> 00:34:58,680
‐ <i>For the following contest,</i>

830
00:34:58,805 --> 00:35:01,391
<i>there are no rules!</i>

831
00:35:01,516 --> 00:35:03,643
‐ <i>With the ladder up. Oh!</i>

832
00:35:03,768 --> 00:35:06,313
[cheers and applause]

833
00:35:06,396 --> 00:35:07,981
<i>‐ From high above!</i>

834
00:35:08,106 --> 00:35:09,149
<i>Oh!
‐ Oh!</i>

835
00:35:09,274 --> 00:35:12,277
It's the most barbaric,
insane,

836
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,988
car crash excitement
you've ever seen.

837
00:35:15,071 --> 00:35:16,990
‐ <i>It's starting to shake!
Oh, no!</i>

838
00:35:17,073 --> 00:35:18,366
<i>‐ Oh!</i>

839
00:35:18,491 --> 00:35:20,994
‐ <i>I was able
to have a presence</i>

840
00:35:21,119 --> 00:35:23,747
<i>that I don't
think they knew that I had.</i>

841
00:35:23,872 --> 00:35:26,625
It isn't about size,
it is about presence.

842
00:35:26,708 --> 00:35:28,877
[cheers and applause]

843
00:35:29,002 --> 00:35:30,462
<i>‐ Oh! Oh!</i>

844
00:35:30,587 --> 00:35:33,048
‐ <i>Shawn actually
lost the match,</i>

845
00:35:33,131 --> 00:35:35,634
but it put Shawn
at a different level

846
00:35:35,717 --> 00:35:38,011
that people believed

847
00:35:38,136 --> 00:35:40,263
this little bastard
could do anything.

848
00:35:40,347 --> 00:35:43,600
[cheers and applause]

849
00:35:43,683 --> 00:35:49,022
<i>If you didn't before,
or you didn't want to believe,</i>

850
00:35:49,147 --> 00:35:56,696
Shawn made you believe.

851
00:35:56,780 --> 00:35:59,074
[thuds]

852
00:35:59,199 --> 00:36:00,700
‐ Should close it
and just drop it to the side.

853
00:36:00,825 --> 00:36:03,161
Boom and then you say,
"Okay, mister, here we go."

854
00:36:03,244 --> 00:36:04,412
You know, whatever.

855
00:36:04,537 --> 00:36:06,164
I don't know,
just throwing it out there.

856
00:36:06,289 --> 00:36:09,334
<i>This weekend, we have
one of our bigger events.</i>

857
00:36:09,459 --> 00:36:10,835
Five‐man ladder match.

858
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:12,045
Is that gonna...

859
00:36:12,170 --> 00:36:13,463
Someone will be holding
that right there.

860
00:36:13,546 --> 00:36:16,800
Many, many years ago,
it was just two of us

861
00:36:16,883 --> 00:36:18,301
and one ladder.

862
00:36:18,426 --> 00:36:19,678
<i>And now,
these young men and women</i>

863
00:36:19,803 --> 00:36:21,638
<i>have taken it to a whole
nother level.</i>

864
00:36:21,721 --> 00:36:23,348
Got a lot of moving parts
around here.

865
00:36:23,431 --> 00:36:26,393
‐ I always dreamed
of being in a ladder match

866
00:36:26,476 --> 00:36:28,144
obviously because
of Shawn and Razor.

867
00:36:28,186 --> 00:36:30,146
[thuds]

868
00:36:30,188 --> 00:36:34,901
Ladder matches are about
crazy stunts, big falls,

869
00:36:35,026 --> 00:36:36,111
<i>it's a car crash come to life.</i>

870
00:36:36,194 --> 00:36:38,154
<i>He is the face
of the ladder match</i>

871
00:36:38,196 --> 00:36:39,572
<i>and to have him kind of
help us out,</i>

872
00:36:39,698 --> 00:36:42,158
have him kinda watch over us,
you can't dream it up.

873
00:36:42,242 --> 00:36:43,827
It's perfect.

874
00:36:43,910 --> 00:36:46,579
There you go.

875
00:36:48,832 --> 00:36:51,376
[cheers and applause]

876
00:36:51,501 --> 00:36:54,713
<i>‐I met him
in the locker room, 1993,</i>

877
00:36:54,838 --> 00:36:56,131
<i>and wanted to know</i>

878
00:36:56,256 --> 00:36:59,134
if I'd be interested
in becoming his bodyguard.

879
00:36:59,217 --> 00:37:01,678
And the first thing out
of Shawn's mouth is,

880
00:37:01,761 --> 00:37:05,432
"Just so you know,
everybody hates us."

881
00:37:05,515 --> 00:37:08,268
<i>The bodyguard position
was 24/7.</i>

882
00:37:08,351 --> 00:37:11,438
<i>It wasn't just
on television persona,</i>

883
00:37:11,521 --> 00:37:13,648
a lot of people
didn't like him.

884
00:37:13,732 --> 00:37:16,484
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels
was misunderstood</i>

885
00:37:16,526 --> 00:37:17,986
<i>all throughout his career.</i>

886
00:37:18,069 --> 00:37:19,571
There was a certain perception

887
00:37:19,654 --> 00:37:21,448
that he was
an ass[bleep], frankly.

888
00:37:21,531 --> 00:37:23,241
<i>Shawn was selfish.</i>

889
00:37:23,366 --> 00:37:25,452
<i>Shawn did have
an out of control ego,</i>

890
00:37:25,535 --> 00:37:26,995
<i>and Shawn did
feel that he</i>

891
00:37:27,078 --> 00:37:28,413
<i>was better
than everybody else.</i>

892
00:37:28,538 --> 00:37:32,751
To be successful and to take
it to the next level,

893
00:37:32,834 --> 00:37:35,253
<i>you have to start looking out
for yourself.</i>

894
00:37:35,336 --> 00:37:37,464
<i>It's not a team sport.</i>

895
00:37:37,547 --> 00:37:39,549
‐ The one thing that was
the saving grace for Shawn

896
00:37:39,674 --> 00:37:44,137
was he was so good
in the ring.

897
00:37:44,220 --> 00:37:45,680
<i>As a performer,
if you work with a guy</i>

898
00:37:45,764 --> 00:37:47,599
<i>that makes you look
that good,</i>

899
00:37:47,682 --> 00:37:49,142
<i>I don't care
what you think of him,</i>

900
00:37:49,267 --> 00:37:50,852
you want to work with him.

901
00:37:50,935 --> 00:37:54,481
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels,
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall,</i>

902
00:37:54,564 --> 00:37:57,650
<i>1‐2‐3 Kid, and then
Paul LeVesque, Triple H.</i>

903
00:37:57,734 --> 00:38:00,153
<i>these were guys that loved
hanging out together</i>

904
00:38:00,278 --> 00:38:05,867
and hence the Kliq
began to form.

905
00:38:05,992 --> 00:38:08,411
‐ We all just hit it off,
and then it was‐‐you know, we‐‐

906
00:38:08,536 --> 00:38:10,288
All we did was talk non‐stop
about the business and,

907
00:38:10,371 --> 00:38:13,750
you know, we were all just
so passionate about it.

908
00:38:13,875 --> 00:38:15,043
‐ <i>The perception was
that the Kliq</i>

909
00:38:15,126 --> 00:38:17,086
<i>was all‐knowing
and all‐powerful,</i>

910
00:38:17,170 --> 00:38:19,339
<i>and that if you crossed
the Kliq,</i>

911
00:38:19,422 --> 00:38:20,924
they'll just go Vince
and you'll be blackballed.

912
00:38:21,007 --> 00:38:22,884
‐ <i>They couldn't call
any of the shots,</i>

913
00:38:23,009 --> 00:38:26,429
but I listened, and they had
some really good ideas.

914
00:38:26,513 --> 00:38:28,348
Really smart, individually.

915
00:38:28,473 --> 00:38:31,309
And Shawn's very smart
when he's sober.

916
00:38:32,310 --> 00:38:34,354
<i>Shawn had an attitude,</i>

917
00:38:34,437 --> 00:38:37,398
<i>when he drank even more so
on top of pills</i>

918
00:38:37,524 --> 00:38:38,775
<i>and Shawn would say,</i>

919
00:38:38,858 --> 00:38:41,820
you know, the wrong thing
at the wrong time.

920
00:38:41,861 --> 00:38:44,656
<i>And he was protected
in a WB environment.</i>

921
00:38:44,781 --> 00:38:49,369
You know,
but outside that environment‐‐

922
00:38:49,494 --> 00:38:50,995
‐ Shawn Michaels,
British Bulldog,

923
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:52,831
<i>1‐2‐3 Kid walk into a bar.</i>

924
00:38:52,914 --> 00:38:56,042
Me, Scott, and Kev
were in Europe.

925
00:38:56,125 --> 00:38:58,419
It was where we find out
that this all happened.

926
00:38:58,503 --> 00:39:00,463
<i>Bunch of Marines
in a tough bar.</i>

927
00:39:00,547 --> 00:39:04,008
<i>Every eye in that place turns
to the three wrestlers</i>

928
00:39:04,092 --> 00:39:05,385
<i>that just walked
in the door,</i>

929
00:39:05,510 --> 00:39:07,762
<i>of which Shawn
is the megastar.</i>

930
00:39:07,846 --> 00:39:10,473
Every girl in that place
starts to look at Shawn,

931
00:39:10,598 --> 00:39:12,517
Shawn is very enamored
with that,

932
00:39:12,642 --> 00:39:14,060
and Shawn is at
this point in his life,

933
00:39:14,185 --> 00:39:18,273
like, "[bleep] you lookin' at?
Is there a problem, jarhead?"

934
00:39:18,356 --> 00:39:20,275
They go to walk out,
six Marines walk out,

935
00:39:20,358 --> 00:39:21,526
beat the [bleep] out of Shawn

936
00:39:21,651 --> 00:39:24,654
and leave him in the side
of the car.

937
00:39:24,737 --> 00:39:26,489
‐ <i>And the last
thing I can remember is,</i>

938
00:39:26,614 --> 00:39:28,241
<i>you know,
there being the coat check.</i>

939
00:39:28,366 --> 00:39:31,578
The next thing is waking up
in the hospital.

940
00:39:31,661 --> 00:39:36,040
<i>And everything
else is a complete blank.</i>

941
00:39:36,165 --> 00:39:37,709
<i>That was four days</i>

942
00:39:37,834 --> 00:39:41,337
<i>out of a seven day week,
situations like that.</i>

943
00:39:41,462 --> 00:39:43,715
<i>Getting beat up by nine guys
in Syracuse,</i>

944
00:39:43,798 --> 00:39:45,133
to me, there's not
a whole lot of shame in.

945
00:39:45,258 --> 00:39:48,428
You know, that kind of stuff
just sort of happens to me.

946
00:39:48,511 --> 00:39:49,721
I've got two choices‐‐

947
00:39:49,804 --> 00:39:52,432
sit home and cry,
or to come out and be a pain.

948
00:39:52,515 --> 00:39:55,643
And I got news for you,
folks, I'm all cried out.

949
00:39:55,768 --> 00:39:56,853
‐ This moment of existence

950
00:39:56,978 --> 00:39:59,272
was the 20 minutes
in the ring every night.

951
00:39:59,355 --> 00:40:01,024
<i>He wouldn't be messed up.</i>

952
00:40:01,107 --> 00:40:02,692
<i>He'd go in there
and he'd kill it every night,</i>

953
00:40:02,775 --> 00:40:05,069
and then the second
he was done‐‐

954
00:40:05,194 --> 00:40:06,863
[clicks tongue]

955
00:40:06,946 --> 00:40:09,490
"I'm in pain,
and I took some stuff,

956
00:40:09,574 --> 00:40:11,451
<i>"so I wouldn't be
in pain this morning,</i>

957
00:40:11,534 --> 00:40:12,744
<i>but I'm messed up."</i>

958
00:40:12,827 --> 00:40:14,662
Why would you hang out
with this misery 24/7?

959
00:40:14,704 --> 00:40:16,748
No, it's not.
It's again like your brother.

960
00:40:16,873 --> 00:40:18,750
It's like a family member.

961
00:40:18,875 --> 00:40:20,793
Shawn owes his life
to Triple H,

962
00:40:20,877 --> 00:40:24,047
Paul Leveque,
owes his life to him.

963
00:40:24,172 --> 00:40:25,465
<i>‐ Shawn Michaels knows</i>

964
00:40:25,590 --> 00:40:28,426
<i>that the greatest match
of his life</i>

965
00:40:28,509 --> 00:40:31,304
<i>must come this Sunday night.</i>

966
00:40:31,429 --> 00:40:33,806
By the time
you get to the mid‐90s,

967
00:40:33,932 --> 00:40:36,184
<i>Bret Hart
has become a crowd favorite.</i>

968
00:40:36,309 --> 00:40:40,813
<i>Bret is a very soft‐spoken,
quiet, Canadian gentleman.</i>

969
00:40:40,939 --> 00:40:44,776
<i>Shawn is an outspoken,
loud, brash American.</i>

970
00:40:44,859 --> 00:40:48,947
Only one person can
be the absolute alpha dog.

971
00:40:49,030 --> 00:40:52,617
<i>The Iron Man match,
the boyhood dream realized,</i>

972
00:40:52,700 --> 00:40:57,372
<i>it added another layer to the
Shawn Michaels character.</i>

973
00:40:57,497 --> 00:40:58,498
‐ <i>The Iron Man match,</i>

974
00:40:58,623 --> 00:41:00,333
it's the opportunity
where I get to,

975
00:41:00,458 --> 00:41:02,919
you know, get
my first world championship.

976
00:41:03,002 --> 00:41:05,797
‐ <i>There's only one
Heartbreak Kid!</i>

977
00:41:05,838 --> 00:41:10,218
<i>Unbelievable, what a ride!</i>

978
00:41:10,343 --> 00:41:12,011
‐ <i>An hour‐long match,</i>

979
00:41:12,095 --> 00:41:14,806
it's gonna be a long night at
the office, in wrestling terms.

980
00:41:14,931 --> 00:41:19,394
‐ <i>For the WWE Championship!</i>

981
00:41:19,519 --> 00:41:21,479
‐ We start to have our issues.

982
00:41:21,604 --> 00:41:24,649
You know, I was never
big on the Kliq idea.

983
00:41:24,732 --> 00:41:27,110
<i>It was a testy match
in a lot of ways.</i>

984
00:41:27,193 --> 00:41:29,278
‐ <i>Hart's in big trouble.</i>

985
00:41:29,362 --> 00:41:31,406
[cheers and applause]

986
00:41:31,531 --> 00:41:33,199
‐ <i>There was a famous part</i>

987
00:41:33,324 --> 00:41:34,659
where I jump off
the second rope.

988
00:41:34,784 --> 00:41:36,285
[groans]

989
00:41:36,369 --> 00:41:38,663
<i>He comes up and kicks me
in the face</i>

990
00:41:38,705 --> 00:41:39,872
<i>as hard as he could.</i>

991
00:41:39,998 --> 00:41:41,165
I mean, he almost
knocked me out.

992
00:41:41,290 --> 00:41:42,500
<i>‐ Oh, my goodness!</i>

993
00:41:42,583 --> 00:41:44,293
We stiff each other a lot
of times in that match.

994
00:41:44,419 --> 00:41:47,213
[cheering and chatter]

995
00:41:47,338 --> 00:41:50,299
‐ One, two, out!

996
00:41:50,425 --> 00:41:52,969
[bell dings]

997
00:41:53,094 --> 00:41:57,432
‐ <i>The boyhood dream
has come true!</i>

998
00:41:57,515 --> 00:41:59,058
‐ <i>The boyhood dream has
come true,</i>

999
00:41:59,183 --> 00:42:02,645
because that was Shawn's
boyhood dream, it was.

1000
00:42:02,770 --> 00:42:04,856
And that's exactly
what happened.

1001
00:42:04,939 --> 00:42:07,608
‐ <i>It was a very
big moment for my career.</i>

1002
00:42:07,692 --> 00:42:09,736
It's like, oh, it's the first
World Championship

1003
00:42:09,819 --> 00:42:11,988
and you go like, "Hmm,
I pictured it being different."

1004
00:42:12,071 --> 00:42:14,824
<i>I wasn't at a good place
and all that kinda stuff.</i>

1005
00:42:14,949 --> 00:42:18,077
<i>Just a lot of responsibility
that goes with that.</i>

1006
00:42:18,202 --> 00:42:20,246
Now every guy in that locker
room, their well‐being,

1007
00:42:20,371 --> 00:42:24,333
their life, you know,
their livelihood and all that

1008
00:42:24,417 --> 00:42:26,502
depends on the job
that you do.

1009
00:42:26,627 --> 00:42:29,672
<i>You know, it all
falls on your shoulders.</i>

1010
00:42:29,756 --> 00:42:31,299
The whole thing
was uncomfortable.

1011
00:42:33,384 --> 00:42:37,889
‐ <i>As we got into 1996,
Ted Turner, who owned WCW,</i>

1012
00:42:37,972 --> 00:42:41,642
<i>our competitors,
was being very aggressive</i>

1013
00:42:41,684 --> 00:42:45,480
in his quest for new talent.

1014
00:42:45,605 --> 00:42:47,732
<i>Scott Hall and Kevin Nash,</i>

1015
00:42:47,857 --> 00:42:52,612
they were going to leave
and go to Ted Turner's WCW.

1016
00:42:52,695 --> 00:42:54,822
<i>The last matches being</i>

1017
00:42:54,947 --> 00:42:58,618
<i>in New York
in Madison Square Garden.</i>

1018
00:42:58,701 --> 00:43:01,370
‐ <i>On my 19th, 1996,</i>

1019
00:43:01,454 --> 00:43:04,123
one of the greatest days
of wrestling,

1020
00:43:04,207 --> 00:43:05,833
and my life as well.

1021
00:43:05,958 --> 00:43:08,544
<i>Me and my friend went
to a house show</i>

1022
00:43:08,669 --> 00:43:09,962
<i>which was not televised,</i>

1023
00:43:10,088 --> 00:43:11,881
<i>we would sneak in
a camera past security</i>

1024
00:43:11,964 --> 00:43:14,509
<i>and we would film the shows.</i>

1025
00:43:14,592 --> 00:43:18,387
Shawn was my hero
and was my idol growing up.

1026
00:43:18,471 --> 00:43:19,931
[audience cheering]

1027
00:43:20,014 --> 00:43:21,557
<i>The ending shows
Shawn Michaels</i>

1028
00:43:21,682 --> 00:43:23,267
<i>giving Diesel a super kick.</i>

1029
00:43:23,351 --> 00:43:25,645
Match is over.

1030
00:43:25,770 --> 00:43:28,231
<i>And then all of a sudden
Razor Ramon comes out.</i>

1031
00:43:28,356 --> 00:43:29,816
<i>I'm like, "Oh, cool."</i>

1032
00:43:29,899 --> 00:43:32,485
They start hugging and I'm
screaming like a little girl.

1033
00:43:32,568 --> 00:43:34,070
<i>Oh, my God!</i>

1034
00:43:34,195 --> 00:43:35,363
<i>Who's this?</i>

1035
00:43:35,446 --> 00:43:37,073
<i>And it turns out to be
Hunter Hurst Helmsley.</i>

1036
00:43:37,156 --> 00:43:40,243
They all start hugging and, you
know, obviously saying goodbye.

1037
00:43:40,368 --> 00:43:43,329
<i>It was insane.
That night was magical.</i>

1038
00:43:43,371 --> 00:43:45,665
<i>Yeah!</i>

1039
00:43:45,748 --> 00:43:47,166
<i>The business was
well protected</i>

1040
00:43:47,291 --> 00:43:50,670
<i>up until then, and our cameras
still kept going.</i>

1041
00:43:50,753 --> 00:43:52,672
<i>The only camera
that was there.</i>

1042
00:43:52,755 --> 00:43:55,633
If we were not involved
in taping the curtain call,

1043
00:43:55,716 --> 00:43:59,387
it would not be talked
about as much today.

1044
00:43:59,512 --> 00:44:01,139
‐ <i>Place is going insane.</i>

1045
00:44:01,222 --> 00:44:03,558
Everybody knows everything
on the inside of the business.

1046
00:44:03,683 --> 00:44:05,017
There's no secrets.

1047
00:44:05,143 --> 00:44:06,644
<i>‐ People in the business
didn't like it.</i>

1048
00:44:06,727 --> 00:44:09,230
They thought it was
the worst thing that happened.

1049
00:44:09,355 --> 00:44:11,566
Here's this bad guy,
who we have no idea

1050
00:44:11,691 --> 00:44:13,985
is friends with all
these other guys.

1051
00:44:14,026 --> 00:44:16,362
‐ <i>It's breaking
the fourth wall</i>

1052
00:44:16,487 --> 00:44:17,864
<i>and just telling people,</i>

1053
00:44:17,947 --> 00:44:19,323
<i>"Everything we just did
is bull [bleep]. "</i>

1054
00:44:19,407 --> 00:44:22,827
Shawn Michaels is now hugging
and kissing the guy

1055
00:44:22,910 --> 00:44:25,997
that he's just spent 20 minutes
beating the hell out of.

1056
00:44:26,038 --> 00:44:27,540
We entertained you,
but now it's all over,

1057
00:44:27,623 --> 00:44:31,210
we're really good buddies.
Taboo in the wrestling business.

1058
00:44:31,335 --> 00:44:34,714
‐ <i>The tape
was leaked out to a writer.</i>

1059
00:44:34,839 --> 00:44:36,924
The tape blows up on its own.

1060
00:44:37,008 --> 00:44:38,843
‐ <i>I had no idea
that was gonna happen.</i>

1061
00:44:38,926 --> 00:44:41,846
It was something
that's never been done before.

1062
00:44:41,929 --> 00:44:46,601
I'm watching this and going,
"What the hell is going on?"

1063
00:44:46,684 --> 00:44:49,103
The Kliq was an insult
to our business.

1064
00:44:49,187 --> 00:44:51,272
If they had done that
in the '70s, early '80s,

1065
00:44:51,355 --> 00:44:53,608
they'd all four of them get
the [bleep] beat out of 'em.

1066
00:44:53,691 --> 00:44:57,862
They wrestle each other and
they all kiss and say goodbye.

1067
00:44:57,945 --> 00:44:59,780
‐ Somebody's gotta
go down for it.

1068
00:44:59,864 --> 00:45:02,992
<i>Kev's gone, Scott's gone,
Shawn's the champ.</i>

1069
00:45:03,075 --> 00:45:08,497
Stuff rolls downhill and,
yeah, it all rolled on me.

1070
00:45:08,581 --> 00:45:10,166
‐ <i>Triple H is the one</i>

1071
00:45:10,249 --> 00:45:13,336
<i>that probably paid
the heaviest price</i>

1072
00:45:13,461 --> 00:45:15,296
<i>as far as his career</i>

1073
00:45:15,379 --> 00:45:18,424
<i>kind of hitting
a roadblock at that point.</i>

1074
00:45:18,507 --> 00:45:20,134
Shawn didn't really
pay a price.

1075
00:45:20,218 --> 00:45:22,637
‐ <i>I was inherently
selfish regardless,</i>

1076
00:45:22,762 --> 00:45:27,475
so I'm sure I didn't feel
the compassion for him,

1077
00:45:27,558 --> 00:45:32,188
as maybe I should have.

1078
00:45:32,313 --> 00:45:34,690
‐ <i>There was a bit
of a shutdown on Shawn.</i>

1079
00:45:34,815 --> 00:45:37,652
<i>Business is‐‐it's okay,
but it's not great.</i>

1080
00:45:37,735 --> 00:45:38,945
<i>You know,
there's a lot of banter</i>

1081
00:45:39,028 --> 00:45:41,447
about Shawn's not
working as champion.

1082
00:45:41,530 --> 00:45:43,324
He's not drawing.

1083
00:45:43,407 --> 00:45:45,534
<i>He's collapsing
under the pressure.</i>

1084
00:45:45,618 --> 00:45:47,495
<i>I can see him
falling apart.</i>

1085
00:45:47,620 --> 00:45:51,165
Kevin and Scott are gone,
and I'm all he's got now.

1086
00:45:51,249 --> 00:45:52,416
<i>He's a mess.</i>

1087
00:45:52,541 --> 00:45:55,753
‐ <i>I felt a lot of pressure
and I didn't handle it well.</i>

1088
00:45:55,836 --> 00:45:57,672
For me, it was all about

1089
00:45:57,755 --> 00:45:59,590
running and escaping,
and honestly,

1090
00:45:59,674 --> 00:46:01,092
you know, there was running

1091
00:46:01,175 --> 00:46:03,135
and escaping from the dude
I'd become.

1092
00:46:03,261 --> 00:46:05,054
Better than having
to face that,

1093
00:46:05,137 --> 00:46:08,349
I might just take a few
of these and knock myself out.

1094
00:46:08,432 --> 00:46:10,810
Won't have to pay attention
to it till tomorrow.

1095
00:46:10,893 --> 00:46:12,520
‐ <i>He'd be pilled up,
passed out,</i>

1096
00:46:12,645 --> 00:46:16,232
put Shawn on a luggage cart
and roll him up to his room,

1097
00:46:16,315 --> 00:46:18,859
<i>and get him undressed,
take the dip out of his mouth,</i>

1098
00:46:18,985 --> 00:46:20,361
<i>and put him on his side,
put a pillow behind him</i>

1099
00:46:20,486 --> 00:46:22,446
<i>so he wouldn't roll over and
choke to death in his sleep.</i>

1100
00:46:22,530 --> 00:46:25,324
And set an alarm and get up
every two, three hours

1101
00:46:25,408 --> 00:46:26,575
to go check on him.

1102
00:46:26,659 --> 00:46:28,202
<i>And that was every night.</i>

1103
00:46:28,286 --> 00:46:32,206
Well, you know, every night?
Sad existence.

1104
00:46:36,627 --> 00:46:38,671
<i>[cheers and applause]</i>

1105
00:46:38,796 --> 00:46:40,965
‐ <i>What everybody
has to understand</i>

1106
00:46:41,007 --> 00:46:43,301
<i>about Shawn Michaels
is this‐‐</i>

1107
00:46:43,342 --> 00:46:44,635
If I wanna come out here

1108
00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:48,639
and look like a blithering
idiot on live TV,

1109
00:46:48,681 --> 00:46:50,850
believe me, I'm gonna do it.

1110
00:46:50,933 --> 00:46:54,228
Why?
Because I can.

1111
00:46:54,353 --> 00:46:56,772
‐ <i>He had a drug problem
for a while,</i>

1112
00:46:56,856 --> 00:46:58,316
<i>a serious one,</i>

1113
00:46:58,357 --> 00:47:02,611
<i>and he kind of fell
in the hole even deeper.</i>

1114
00:47:02,695 --> 00:47:06,157
But it wasn't until
he became champion

1115
00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:08,659
that I felt that Shawn, uh,

1116
00:47:08,784 --> 00:47:12,747
started to question himself.

1117
00:47:12,872 --> 00:47:14,999
‐ <i>I called his dad,
the colonel,</i>

1118
00:47:15,082 --> 00:47:16,917
<i>and said,
"I'd like to visit."</i>

1119
00:47:17,001 --> 00:47:18,794
So I flew down to meet him

1120
00:47:18,919 --> 00:47:21,297
and I'm saying, "You're probably
not aware of this,

1121
00:47:21,339 --> 00:47:24,592
Shawn really
has a drug problem."

1122
00:47:24,675 --> 00:47:26,052
The colonel got angry.

1123
00:47:26,177 --> 00:47:29,472
He just didn't want to hear it.

1124
00:47:29,597 --> 00:47:31,932
‐ I don't know that anybody
knew how to address it.

1125
00:47:32,016 --> 00:47:34,101
<i>Even things like rehab,
my parents,</i>

1126
00:47:34,185 --> 00:47:35,311
you know, God love 'em,

1127
00:47:35,394 --> 00:47:37,897
I don't that they knew
what it was that you did,

1128
00:47:37,980 --> 00:47:39,231
<i>except just to be worried.</i>

1129
00:47:39,357 --> 00:47:42,443
<i>Not long after that
I tweaked my knee.</i>

1130
00:47:42,526 --> 00:47:44,653
[cheers and applause]

1131
00:47:44,779 --> 00:47:46,322
<i>I went to this dude
in San Antonio</i>

1132
00:47:46,405 --> 00:47:48,824
<i>who doesn't know anything
about wrestling,</i>

1133
00:47:48,866 --> 00:47:50,326
and obviously sees
I've torn my ACL

1134
00:47:50,368 --> 00:47:52,244
and he's like,
"Dude, you're done."

1135
00:47:52,370 --> 00:47:56,499
You know, he said, "You're not
wrestling with a torn ACL."

1136
00:47:56,582 --> 00:48:00,044
<i>I know that over
the last several months,</i>

1137
00:48:00,169 --> 00:48:01,962
I've lost a lot of things,

1138
00:48:02,046 --> 00:48:03,464
and one of them
has been my smile.

1139
00:48:03,547 --> 00:48:06,634
‐ <i>He went in the ring
to announce he was retiring</i>

1140
00:48:06,717 --> 00:48:08,469
'cause he had a bad knee.

1141
00:48:08,552 --> 00:48:10,679
<i>I didn't believe his knee
was the issue.</i>

1142
00:48:10,805 --> 00:48:12,598
<i>I always thought
the issue was</i>

1143
00:48:12,681 --> 00:48:15,851
he didn't want to wrestle me
at WrestleMania 13

1144
00:48:15,976 --> 00:48:17,436
<i>and drop the belt to me.</i>

1145
00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:21,524
I doubted Shawn's integrity
as far as his injury went.

1146
00:48:21,649 --> 00:48:22,650
You phony little faker,

1147
00:48:22,775 --> 00:48:24,318
why don't you take your little
pussyfoot injury‐‐

1148
00:48:24,402 --> 00:48:25,528
‐ All right,
all right, knock it off.

1149
00:48:25,611 --> 00:48:28,072
No, no, no.
‐ It's all right.

1150
00:48:28,197 --> 00:48:29,323
I'm not going anywhere.

1151
00:48:29,407 --> 00:48:30,991
‐ And go back
and find your smile.

1152
00:48:31,033 --> 00:48:32,410
‐ <i>I got accused
of faking it.</i>

1153
00:48:32,535 --> 00:48:33,953
<i>Bret told everybody
I was faking it.</i>

1154
00:48:34,036 --> 00:48:37,832
My excuse is drug addicts
lie all the time.

1155
00:48:37,873 --> 00:48:39,166
Well, there's no doubt

1156
00:48:39,208 --> 00:48:41,043
that you found your smile
again as you stated...

1157
00:48:41,168 --> 00:48:42,795
‐ <i>A year off
of the wrestling business</i>

1158
00:48:42,878 --> 00:48:43,963
<i>was a year of no pay.</i>

1159
00:48:44,088 --> 00:48:47,133
That's just not‐‐
That isn't feasible.

1160
00:48:47,174 --> 00:48:49,343
And they said, "Well, look,
you can put a brace on it

1161
00:48:49,468 --> 00:48:51,011
and wrap it up."

1162
00:48:51,137 --> 00:48:52,805
They went and they got me
a brace and everything else.

1163
00:48:52,888 --> 00:48:55,015
I was like, "Okay,
I can do this."

1164
00:48:55,099 --> 00:48:58,144
And it is time
for the Heartbreak Kid,

1165
00:48:58,185 --> 00:49:00,980
Shawn Michaels
to return to action!

1166
00:49:01,021 --> 00:49:02,398
<i>[suspenseful music]</i>

1167
00:49:02,523 --> 00:49:05,860
<i>‐This was a moment where
things needed to change.</i>

1168
00:49:05,943 --> 00:49:07,820
Business was bad.

1169
00:49:07,903 --> 00:49:09,321
WCW was starting to kill us.

1170
00:49:09,405 --> 00:49:11,115
Put Shawn and I
together on TV.

1171
00:49:11,198 --> 00:49:14,743
<i>We will multiply each other's
personalities on screen.</i>

1172
00:49:14,827 --> 00:49:17,496
Put us together.
DX is born.

1173
00:49:17,621 --> 00:49:19,123
<i>[hard rock music]</i>

1174
00:49:19,206 --> 00:49:21,375
<i>‐ ♪ Degenerate
into something fool ♪</i>

1175
00:49:21,500 --> 00:49:24,295
<i>♪ We just got tired of doing
what you told us to do ♪</i>

1176
00:49:24,378 --> 00:49:27,006
‐ <i>Degeneration X
consisted of Shawn,</i>

1177
00:49:27,089 --> 00:49:28,466
<i>Triple H, and Chyna.</i>

1178
00:49:28,591 --> 00:49:32,761
<i>Two goofs in Shawn and Hunter
that were immature,</i>

1179
00:49:32,845 --> 00:49:36,140
and did everything that
you weren't supposed to do.

1180
00:49:36,223 --> 00:49:38,267
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels,</i>

1181
00:49:38,350 --> 00:49:40,895
you're a disgrace
to professional wrestling.

1182
00:49:41,020 --> 00:49:44,440
I saw it as inmates
had taken over the asylum.

1183
00:49:44,523 --> 00:49:46,066
I'm gonna
start with the degenerate

1184
00:49:46,192 --> 00:49:47,902
right beside
you in the green shirt.

1185
00:49:47,985 --> 00:49:50,029
<i>‐ ♪ Degeneration X</i>

1186
00:49:50,112 --> 00:49:52,990
‐ Suck it!
[laughs]

1187
00:49:53,073 --> 00:49:54,992
‐ Yeah, I can't say
I liked it.

1188
00:49:55,075 --> 00:49:57,328
<i>That smut and
the crotch shots.</i>

1189
00:49:57,411 --> 00:49:59,497
It did get pretty raunchy.

1190
00:49:59,538 --> 00:50:01,457
‐ I don't think
it was over the line.

1191
00:50:01,540 --> 00:50:04,710
You know, we were getting our
tails kicked in the ratings.

1192
00:50:04,793 --> 00:50:08,797
<i>DX took it to the very,
very tipping point</i>

1193
00:50:08,923 --> 00:50:10,758
<i>of going too far.</i>

1194
00:50:10,841 --> 00:50:12,468
But that's what we needed.

1195
00:50:12,593 --> 00:50:16,430
It was kind of a whole facelift
for the company.

1196
00:50:16,514 --> 00:50:17,473
They loved it.

1197
00:50:17,556 --> 00:50:19,141
Ratings are going up,
your segments are hot.

1198
00:50:19,225 --> 00:50:20,309
We are the Degeneration X,

1199
00:50:20,392 --> 00:50:24,688
you make the rules,
and we will break 'em!

1200
00:50:24,772 --> 00:50:26,023
‐ They were the anti‐authority.

1201
00:50:26,148 --> 00:50:27,650
They could do anything
they wanted.

1202
00:50:27,775 --> 00:50:29,652
‐ <i>We were just trying
to make each other laugh,</i>

1203
00:50:29,735 --> 00:50:31,403
<i>say something so stupid
that people would go,</i>

1204
00:50:31,529 --> 00:50:33,489
"Oh, my God,
I can't believe he said that."

1205
00:50:33,572 --> 00:50:37,326
Your old lady is not too
thrilled with your privates.

1206
00:50:37,409 --> 00:50:39,328
<i>‐ You would think, like, okay,
so now everything's great</i>

1207
00:50:39,411 --> 00:50:40,829
backstage with Shawn.
No.

1208
00:50:40,955 --> 00:50:42,540
<i>We're still approaching this
from a place of anger.</i>

1209
00:50:42,665 --> 00:50:44,291
<i>We know we're
pissing people off</i>

1210
00:50:44,375 --> 00:50:46,460
and we're trying
to be dicks.

1211
00:50:46,585 --> 00:50:48,671
‐ I got in trouble
for a lot of stuff

1212
00:50:48,754 --> 00:50:50,464
that we all thought was funny,

1213
00:50:50,548 --> 00:50:52,800
and clearly we might have been
the only ones.

1214
00:50:52,883 --> 00:50:56,929
I'm goin' out
in a blaze of glory!

1215
00:50:57,012 --> 00:50:58,597
[cheers and applause]

1216
00:50:58,681 --> 00:51:02,226
‐ <i>At that point,
Shawn's DX personality</i>

1217
00:51:02,351 --> 00:51:05,062
<i>and his real personality
have kind of morphed,</i>

1218
00:51:05,187 --> 00:51:07,982
so Shawn really
never turned it off.

1219
00:51:08,065 --> 00:51:10,317
‐ This is what
it's come down to,

1220
00:51:10,359 --> 00:51:11,485
they're looking at somebody

1221
00:51:11,610 --> 00:51:13,988
that's got no respect
for anything.

1222
00:51:14,071 --> 00:51:16,907
<i>‐ There was a true animosity</i>

1223
00:51:17,032 --> 00:51:18,409
<i>between Bret and Shawn,</i>

1224
00:51:18,534 --> 00:51:20,744
just spiraled
completely out of control.

1225
00:51:20,869 --> 00:51:24,873
‐ <i>In the beginning,
Shawn and Bret were friends</i>

1226
00:51:24,957 --> 00:51:29,128
and the antagonistic
relationship

1227
00:51:29,211 --> 00:51:33,591
that they had on camera,
that was all orchestrated.

1228
00:51:33,674 --> 00:51:35,217
<i>But it became personal.</i>

1229
00:51:35,342 --> 00:51:37,761
It became personal
between Bret and Shawn,

1230
00:51:37,845 --> 00:51:39,555
because one guy
would go too far.

1231
00:51:39,638 --> 00:51:43,809
‐ <i>I never knew enough
to avoid the confrontation.</i>

1232
00:51:43,934 --> 00:51:46,186
If something bothered Bret,
I made sure that I did it.

1233
00:51:46,312 --> 00:51:49,148
He stabbed the WWE in the back.

1234
00:51:49,231 --> 00:51:52,484
Why? For his financial gain.

1235
00:51:52,568 --> 00:51:54,528
‐ Instead of facing me
like a man,

1236
00:51:54,653 --> 00:51:58,198
but you were too busy posing
for girlie magazines.

1237
00:51:58,324 --> 00:51:59,867
<i>You know, you don't
like me talking about you</i>

1238
00:51:59,950 --> 00:52:03,162
posing for "Playgirl," but
you did pose for "Playgirl."

1239
00:52:03,245 --> 00:52:07,333
And we finally had a fisticuff
in the dressing room.

1240
00:52:07,416 --> 00:52:09,251
‐ <i>Oh, my God, Bret and Shawn
just got into a fight</i>

1241
00:52:09,335 --> 00:52:11,545
and pulled each other hair
in the locker room. What?

1242
00:52:11,670 --> 00:52:13,130
I run over there
and find Shawn,

1243
00:52:13,213 --> 00:52:14,673
he's got a big chunk
of hair missing

1244
00:52:14,798 --> 00:52:16,008
out of the side of his head.
"What are you doing?"

1245
00:52:16,133 --> 00:52:17,718
‐ I realize that
I hate your guts.

1246
00:52:17,801 --> 00:52:20,638
‐ <i>We had a lot
of these resets and talks,</i>

1247
00:52:20,679 --> 00:52:23,432
and we would always end up
offending each other quickly

1248
00:52:23,515 --> 00:52:25,392
right after that.
[laughs]

1249
00:52:28,562 --> 00:52:29,730
‐ <i>We are live</i>

1250
00:52:29,813 --> 00:52:33,734
<i>in the sold‐out Molson Centre
in Montréal, Quebec,</i>

1251
00:52:33,859 --> 00:52:38,113
<i>where tonight,
it will finally be settled.</i>

1252
00:52:38,197 --> 00:52:40,866
<i>Who is the man?</i>

1253
00:52:40,991 --> 00:52:42,534
<i>‐ Bret is the champion,</i>

1254
00:52:42,660 --> 00:52:45,287
<i>but Bret's on his way to WCW,</i>

1255
00:52:45,371 --> 00:52:49,458
and he doesn't wanna drop
the title to Shawn.

1256
00:52:49,541 --> 00:52:52,628
<i>But they couldn't let Bret
leave with the title,</i>

1257
00:52:52,753 --> 00:52:56,131
and then show up
on WCW TV the next night.

1258
00:52:56,173 --> 00:52:58,926
‐ Who's gonna win?

1259
00:52:59,009 --> 00:53:00,511
‐ I don't know.

1260
00:53:00,594 --> 00:53:02,805
‐ <i>Bret thought the match
was going to go one way,</i>

1261
00:53:02,930 --> 00:53:07,184
<i>Shawn and Vince McMahon come
up with a different plan.</i>

1262
00:53:07,309 --> 00:53:09,520
Bret doesn't know
about the plan.

1263
00:53:09,645 --> 00:53:12,106
‐ <i>We're being told by Vince,</i>

1264
00:53:12,189 --> 00:53:14,316
like, this goes to your grave.

1265
00:53:14,441 --> 00:53:17,903
This is high‐level
espionage, man.

1266
00:53:18,028 --> 00:53:19,822
<i>Nobody ever knows this.</i>

1267
00:53:19,863 --> 00:53:22,533
‐ It's kind of
what's best for business.

1268
00:53:22,658 --> 00:53:23,826
‐ <i>Look out!</i>

1269
00:53:23,867 --> 00:53:25,703
<i>Shawn Michaels is not
gonna waste any time.</i>

1270
00:53:25,786 --> 00:53:28,288
‐ <i>The whole thing
was uncomfortable.</i>

1271
00:53:28,372 --> 00:53:31,792
I was out there,
you know, being Judas.

1272
00:53:31,875 --> 00:53:35,087
<i>[dramatic music]</i>

1273
00:53:35,170 --> 00:53:37,131
[groans]

1274
00:53:37,256 --> 00:53:38,507
<i>‐ They had created a spot</i>

1275
00:53:38,632 --> 00:53:41,969
where Shawn was gonna put
Bret's move,

1276
00:53:42,094 --> 00:53:46,098
which is a submission hold,
the Sharpshooter, on Bret.

1277
00:53:46,181 --> 00:53:47,808
‐ <i>Look at this!</i>

1278
00:53:47,891 --> 00:53:49,643
<i>‐ Oh, you're kidding me.</i>

1279
00:53:49,727 --> 00:53:52,646
‐ <i>It's definitely one
of the most fabled stories</i>

1280
00:53:52,688 --> 00:53:53,981
<i>in our industry.</i>

1281
00:53:54,064 --> 00:53:55,607
The Montreal Screw Job.

1282
00:53:55,691 --> 00:53:58,485
‐ <i>It's just minutes
into that match,</i>

1283
00:53:58,569 --> 00:54:01,280
not one person on Planet Earth

1284
00:54:01,363 --> 00:54:04,283
thinks the match
is going to end.

1285
00:54:04,366 --> 00:54:06,660
<i>‐ Are you kidding me?</i>

1286
00:54:06,785 --> 00:54:09,496
[bell rings]

1287
00:54:09,580 --> 00:54:13,333
[rock music playing]

1288
00:54:13,417 --> 00:54:15,669
‐ So when, all of a sudden,
the bell rings,

1289
00:54:15,794 --> 00:54:19,882
there's complete confusion
as to why the match has ended.

1290
00:54:20,007 --> 00:54:21,300
‐ <i>What happened?</i>

1291
00:54:21,383 --> 00:54:23,218
<i>Bret Hart gave up
in a Sharpshooter.</i>

1292
00:54:23,343 --> 00:54:26,305
‐ He said, "Bret submitted,"
which didn't happen.

1293
00:54:26,346 --> 00:54:29,433
‐ <i>Wow,
you talk about controversy.</i>

1294
00:54:29,516 --> 00:54:30,851
<i>‐ It was basically a hit</i>

1295
00:54:30,934 --> 00:54:33,479
to make sure that they got
the title off of Bret.

1296
00:54:33,562 --> 00:54:36,815
‐ Ring the bell!
Ring the bell!

1297
00:54:36,899 --> 00:54:39,276
‐ I could see Vince
yell at him to ring the bell.

1298
00:54:39,359 --> 00:54:41,570
‐ Ring the bell!
[bell rings]

1299
00:54:41,695 --> 00:54:43,322
‐ Like, "They're trying
to screw me now."

1300
00:54:43,405 --> 00:54:44,907
‐ <i>Michaels
with a Sharpshooter</i>

1301
00:54:44,990 --> 00:54:47,743
<i>has become the WWE Champion!</i>

1302
00:54:47,826 --> 00:54:52,331
<i>And Bret Hart is standing
in disbelief.</i>

1303
00:54:52,414 --> 00:54:53,916
‐ <i>He didn't know
Vince was coming out.</i>

1304
00:54:53,999 --> 00:54:56,376
<i>I think he just felt like
maybe if he was out there,</i>

1305
00:54:56,502 --> 00:54:57,795
<i>he might get some heat off me,</i>

1306
00:54:57,920 --> 00:55:01,548
you know, thus making
my denial plausible.

1307
00:55:09,932 --> 00:55:12,726
Vince says, "I wanna
take the heat for this.

1308
00:55:12,851 --> 00:55:13,644
"I don't want
anyone to think

1309
00:55:13,727 --> 00:55:14,937
you had anything
to do with it."

1310
00:55:15,020 --> 00:55:16,230
<i>‐ Maybe you could go?</i>

1311
00:55:16,313 --> 00:55:17,689
<i>‐ Okay, let's get outta here.</i>

1312
00:55:17,815 --> 00:55:19,274
‐ I took the heat,
and should have.

1313
00:55:19,358 --> 00:55:22,653
I didn't want anyone
to know Shawn was involved.

1314
00:55:22,736 --> 00:55:26,740
And Bret comes over and knocks
the [bleep] outta me.

1315
00:55:26,824 --> 00:55:30,494
One punch,
and knocked him out cold.

1316
00:55:30,577 --> 00:55:32,579
He went straight
down on his back.

1317
00:55:32,663 --> 00:55:33,705
Out cold.

1318
00:55:33,831 --> 00:55:38,043
<i>And after I knocked Vince out,</i>

1319
00:55:38,168 --> 00:55:39,711
Shawn was crying.

1320
00:55:39,837 --> 00:55:42,464
Shawn was sat on the bench
and was crying.

1321
00:55:42,589 --> 00:55:43,799
‐ <i>And even though
I didn't feel</i>

1322
00:55:43,882 --> 00:55:45,634
like I did anything wrong
that night,

1323
00:55:45,717 --> 00:55:49,888
you're still carrying a burden
by not coming clean with that.

1324
00:55:50,013 --> 00:55:52,182
To say, "Yes, I knew."

1325
00:55:52,307 --> 00:55:54,434
‐ <i>Vince asked Shawn
to do something</i>

1326
00:55:54,518 --> 00:55:56,353
<i>for everyone in this company.</i>

1327
00:55:56,478 --> 00:55:58,397
<i>Who else would have had
the balls,</i>

1328
00:55:58,522 --> 00:56:01,650
the guts, right or wrong,

1329
00:56:01,733 --> 00:56:04,027
how many other people would
have done it?

1330
00:56:08,866 --> 00:56:11,743
‐ <i>I remember going
to his house in San Antonio,</i>

1331
00:56:11,869 --> 00:56:13,203
<i>and I'm driving
my minivan down there.</i>

1332
00:56:13,328 --> 00:56:14,329
I've got my wife
and three kids at home,

1333
00:56:14,371 --> 00:56:17,332
and I pull into his
gorgeous home.

1334
00:56:17,416 --> 00:56:19,293
I don't have 20 bucks
in my pocket.

1335
00:56:19,418 --> 00:56:20,627
And I'll never forget,

1336
00:56:20,752 --> 00:56:23,589
he put his arms out like this,
and he just looked up

1337
00:56:23,672 --> 00:56:26,967
and he goes,
"You could have had all this."

1338
00:56:27,092 --> 00:56:29,678
But I realize, you know,
somewhere along the way,

1339
00:56:29,761 --> 00:56:31,889
that I saw him lose so much.

1340
00:56:32,014 --> 00:56:33,181
<i>He got into drugs</i>

1341
00:56:33,307 --> 00:56:35,893
<i>and there were some really bad
side effects to his fame.</i>

1342
00:56:36,018 --> 00:56:38,437
‐ <i>I looked at Kenny
a lot of times,</i>

1343
00:56:38,520 --> 00:56:40,480
<i>and having a wife
and a family,</i>

1344
00:56:40,564 --> 00:56:43,567
<i>and just being as happy
as can be.</i>

1345
00:56:43,692 --> 00:56:45,360
And I've always looked
at and admired,

1346
00:56:45,485 --> 00:56:49,615
and thought it was pretty
enviable to have.

1347
00:56:49,698 --> 00:56:52,451
<i>But in my line of work,
it was always wondering</i>

1348
00:56:52,534 --> 00:56:56,997
<i>can you have both,
or is that not possible?</i>

1349
00:56:57,122 --> 00:56:59,291
<i>They don't mix.</i>

1350
00:56:59,374 --> 00:57:02,711
<i>[cheers and applause]</i>

1351
00:57:02,794 --> 00:57:07,007
‐ <i>The following
contest is a casket match</i>

1352
00:57:07,132 --> 00:57:11,553
<i>for the WWE Championship!</i>

1353
00:57:11,678 --> 00:57:13,639
<i>[cheers and applause]</i>

1354
00:57:13,764 --> 00:57:15,182
‐ <i>This casket match</i>

1355
00:57:15,307 --> 00:57:19,227
<i>is the Undertaker's specialty.</i>

1356
00:57:19,311 --> 00:57:21,063
<i>‐ The object of a casket match</i>

1357
00:57:21,146 --> 00:57:22,898
is to beat your opponent down
far enough

1358
00:57:22,981 --> 00:57:25,901
that you can throw them
into the casket or coffin

1359
00:57:26,026 --> 00:57:26,860
and shut the lid.

1360
00:57:26,985 --> 00:57:30,656
And if you do that,
you win the match.

1361
00:57:30,781 --> 00:57:33,659
<i>Somewhere through the course
of that match,</i>

1362
00:57:33,742 --> 00:57:37,996
I threw him over
this giant coffin...

1363
00:57:38,121 --> 00:57:40,123
[grunts]

1364
00:57:40,207 --> 00:57:41,500
‐ <i>Michaels' back dropped</i>

1365
00:57:41,583 --> 00:57:43,460
on that big old wooden casket.

1366
00:57:43,543 --> 00:57:46,380
I wanted to clear it
and go to the floor,

1367
00:57:46,505 --> 00:57:48,799
<i>and I just didn't quite
get far enough,</i>

1368
00:57:48,924 --> 00:57:50,550
<i>and bam,
I just hit the corner.</i>

1369
00:57:50,676 --> 00:57:52,636
But I didn't really
think much about it.

1370
00:57:52,719 --> 00:57:53,971
You know,
you still finish the match.

1371
00:57:54,054 --> 00:57:56,264
<i>‐ Look at the look
on his face!</i>

1372
00:57:56,348 --> 00:57:57,975
<i>The Undertaker
dragging Michaels</i>

1373
00:57:58,058 --> 00:58:00,602
<i>right down into
the depths of Hell!</i>

1374
00:58:00,686 --> 00:58:03,063
The next day, I just
remember getting up like,

1375
00:58:03,188 --> 00:58:07,818
ah, you know, waking up
and not being able to move.

1376
00:58:07,901 --> 00:58:10,654
<i>First time I recall
being in that much pain.</i>

1377
00:58:10,696 --> 00:58:13,156
We do all the X‐rays.

1378
00:58:13,240 --> 00:58:14,282
<i>Apparently, I blew a disc,</i>

1379
00:58:14,366 --> 00:58:17,869
and that's the kind of stuff
that needs to be fused.

1380
00:58:17,995 --> 00:58:20,831
Doctor says, "Oh,
you can't wrestle after that."

1381
00:58:20,956 --> 00:58:23,834
[explosion]
[cheers and applause]

1382
00:58:23,917 --> 00:58:27,045
He said I'm never gonna wrestle
again, yadda, yadda, yadda.

1383
00:58:27,170 --> 00:58:28,714
And I said,
"Nobody tells me what to do,

1384
00:58:28,839 --> 00:58:31,717
so we're going
to WrestleMania with Steve."

1385
00:58:31,842 --> 00:58:34,761
You have never,
ever had one of these!

1386
00:58:34,845 --> 00:58:36,430
So you give me enough drugs,
all right,

1387
00:58:36,513 --> 00:58:41,143
so let's do whatever we can
to get me to WrestleMania.

1388
00:58:41,184 --> 00:58:45,439
‐ <i>Getting Shawn
to WrestleMania was a battle.</i>

1389
00:58:45,522 --> 00:58:50,360
He had a bad back,
he was heavily medicated.

1390
00:58:50,485 --> 00:58:52,487
He is the WWE Champion

1391
00:58:52,612 --> 00:58:53,822
and the man who will
defend his title

1392
00:58:53,905 --> 00:58:54,823
against Stone Cold,

1393
00:58:54,906 --> 00:58:56,950
with Mike Tyson
as the Enforcer.

1394
00:58:57,034 --> 00:58:59,411
Here, ladies and gentlemen,
Shawn Michaels.

1395
00:58:59,536 --> 00:59:01,204
‐ <i>I choose to make an ass</i>

1396
00:59:01,329 --> 00:59:04,207
out of a toughest SOB.

1397
00:59:04,332 --> 00:59:06,084
I can do that anytime I want.

1398
00:59:07,878 --> 00:59:11,923
[overlapping chatter]

1399
00:59:12,007 --> 00:59:13,925
‐ <i>I was gonna
have to dope myself up</i>

1400
00:59:14,009 --> 00:59:15,761
and drop the belt to Steve,

1401
00:59:15,844 --> 00:59:18,764
and then I guess
I'll let my career be over.

1402
00:59:18,847 --> 00:59:20,599
<i>[dramatic music]</i>

1403
00:59:20,682 --> 00:59:22,100
‐ <i>He was bitter.</i>

1404
00:59:22,184 --> 00:59:24,436
<i>It had nothing to do
with him losing,</i>

1405
00:59:24,519 --> 00:59:25,979
it had to do with being
replaced.

1406
00:59:26,104 --> 00:59:29,107
He never had his moment.
He never had his run.

1407
00:59:29,191 --> 00:59:30,650
I'm still the greatest.
And then this‐‐

1408
00:59:30,776 --> 00:59:31,985
Now it's his run.

1409
00:59:32,110 --> 00:59:35,405
What do I do?
Now I'm the backup guy?

1410
00:59:35,530 --> 00:59:36,531
One of the most
messed‐up things

1411
00:59:36,656 --> 00:59:37,991
I ever heard Shawn say
in his life is,

1412
00:59:38,075 --> 00:59:39,409
"I should've taken
so many pills,

1413
00:59:39,493 --> 00:59:40,869
"I died after WrestleMania 10.

1414
00:59:40,994 --> 00:59:42,704
"I'd have been
the biggest star of all time.

1415
00:59:42,829 --> 00:59:45,665
I'd have been Elvis."

1416
00:59:45,791 --> 00:59:47,084
‐ <i>It's hopelessness,</i>

1417
00:59:47,167 --> 00:59:49,044
<i>and certainly,
that's where I was.</i>

1418
00:59:49,169 --> 00:59:52,798
I am not just, uh, you know,
a drug addict.

1419
00:59:52,881 --> 00:59:53,799
I'm an angry one,

1420
00:59:53,924 --> 00:59:56,259
<i>and I mean angrier than ever.</i>

1421
00:59:56,343 --> 00:59:59,096
<i>At that time in my life,
that's all I had.</i>

1422
00:59:59,179 --> 01:00:02,974
I identified who I was with
what I was doing in that ring.

1423
01:00:03,100 --> 01:00:06,728
And without it, I wouldn't have
known what to do with my life.

1424
01:00:06,853 --> 01:00:08,563
[cheers and applause]

1425
01:00:08,688 --> 01:00:10,732
<i>‐ On the day
of WrestleMania 14,</i>

1426
01:00:10,816 --> 01:00:12,651
<i>we barely talked.</i>

1427
01:00:12,734 --> 01:00:14,945
He didn't feel like doing
business with me.

1428
01:00:15,028 --> 01:00:18,824
Triple H was a conduit
between most of it.

1429
01:00:18,907 --> 01:00:20,450
‐ <i>He was pissed.</i>

1430
01:00:20,534 --> 01:00:22,410
<i>He wasn't about to talk
to Steve about this match.</i>

1431
01:00:22,494 --> 01:00:25,330
I helped him put it together
by going from room to room,

1432
01:00:25,372 --> 01:00:27,874
and it was just‐‐it was
so difficult to do.

1433
01:00:27,999 --> 01:00:30,794
‐ <i>It was difficult.
I remember that day.</i>

1434
01:00:30,877 --> 01:00:34,798
I'm thinking, I don't know
what Shawn's going to do.

1435
01:00:34,881 --> 01:00:36,133
‐ <i>He's retiring,</i>

1436
01:00:36,216 --> 01:00:39,177
you know, this could be
his final screw you.

1437
01:00:39,302 --> 01:00:42,639
‐ <i>Nobody has ever,
ever outperformed</i>

1438
01:00:42,722 --> 01:00:46,268
<i>Shawn Michaels
in a big match situation.</i>

1439
01:00:46,351 --> 01:00:47,769
‐ <i>I'm not in great shape.</i>

1440
01:00:47,853 --> 01:00:51,815
<i>My back, pretty bad
being in that much pain.</i>

1441
01:00:51,857 --> 01:00:54,151
Get the cortisone shots
and stuff like that.

1442
01:00:54,276 --> 01:00:56,319
‐ <i>Oh, my God!</i>

1443
01:00:56,444 --> 01:00:59,614
I feel like I'm putting him
over, that's good enough.

1444
01:00:59,698 --> 01:01:03,326
‐ Awesome, he got it!
The Stunner!

1445
01:01:03,451 --> 01:01:05,871
<i>Mike Tyson in!</i>

1446
01:01:05,996 --> 01:01:08,081
<i>[cheers and applause]</i>

1447
01:01:08,165 --> 01:01:09,541
‐ <i>Shawn's always
been a troublemaker,</i>

1448
01:01:09,666 --> 01:01:12,002
he always wants to get in your
face, talk [bleep].

1449
01:01:12,127 --> 01:01:13,962
Even when he's
on your team, he was talking.

1450
01:01:14,045 --> 01:01:16,923
<i>He's an irritant,
that's what he is.</i>

1451
01:01:17,007 --> 01:01:22,804
Shawn, um, has sour grapes.

1452
01:01:22,929 --> 01:01:24,472
[cheers and applause]

1453
01:01:24,598 --> 01:01:26,474
<i>‐ Tyson! Tyson!</i>

1454
01:01:26,600 --> 01:01:27,893
‐ It was kind of a close blow,

1455
01:01:28,018 --> 01:01:33,690
'cause Shawn was pretty much
out for a little while.

1456
01:01:33,815 --> 01:01:35,692
<i>‐ Tyson takes
the Austin 3:16 shirt</i>

1457
01:01:35,775 --> 01:01:37,777
<i>and lays it
across Shawn's chest.</i>

1458
01:01:37,861 --> 01:01:39,654
<i>This was adding
insult to injury,</i>

1459
01:01:39,779 --> 01:01:41,823
and this was rubbing salt
in the wound.

1460
01:01:41,907 --> 01:01:43,909
I would have been pissed too.

1461
01:01:44,034 --> 01:01:45,994
‐ <i>Not exactly the screw job,</i>

1462
01:01:46,077 --> 01:01:48,747
<i>but it was them
getting the last laugh</i>

1463
01:01:48,872 --> 01:01:51,666
as far as, you know,
"Good, little prick,

1464
01:01:51,791 --> 01:01:53,210
"you put us through hell
this week,

1465
01:01:53,335 --> 01:01:55,420
but we're at least gonna
get you going out the door."

1466
01:01:55,503 --> 01:01:57,797
‐ The new WWE Champion,

1467
01:01:57,839 --> 01:02:00,133
Stone Cold Steve Austin.

1468
01:02:00,258 --> 01:02:01,509
[applause]

1469
01:02:01,593 --> 01:02:03,803
He was going
to that press conference

1470
01:02:03,929 --> 01:02:06,389
<i>to just let everybody
know I'm pissed off.</i>

1471
01:02:06,514 --> 01:02:10,435
<i>He walked in the door
and he yelled some stuff.</i>

1472
01:02:10,518 --> 01:02:11,811
<i>‐ Oh, yeah. It's [bleep] up.</i>

1473
01:02:11,937 --> 01:02:13,855
It was just‐‐it's selfish
and it's stupid,

1474
01:02:13,980 --> 01:02:17,859
but, you know, that's
where he was at that time.

1475
01:02:17,984 --> 01:02:20,820
‐ Shawn is suffering
from ruptured disc

1476
01:02:20,904 --> 01:02:23,573
as we speak,
and will not participate

1477
01:02:23,698 --> 01:02:25,158
at this press conference.

1478
01:02:25,242 --> 01:02:28,536
Nonetheless, he participated,
uh, in the arena

1479
01:02:28,662 --> 01:02:30,163
in an extraordinary way,

1480
01:02:30,247 --> 01:02:31,581
and there is
no athlete in the world

1481
01:02:31,665 --> 01:02:35,418
that can say they can do
what Shawn Michaels does.

1482
01:02:35,502 --> 01:02:36,211
<i>[dramatic music]</i>

1483
01:02:40,507 --> 01:02:43,301
<i>[soft music]</i>

1484
01:02:43,385 --> 01:02:45,637
‐ <i>I got on the plane
the next morning</i>

1485
01:02:45,762 --> 01:02:49,808
and went home and began to,
I don't know,

1486
01:02:49,849 --> 01:02:52,018
let it all sort of sink in.

1487
01:02:52,143 --> 01:02:53,520
<i>It takes some time</i>

1488
01:02:53,645 --> 01:02:57,357
<i>before it goes from being
time off to the reality</i>

1489
01:02:57,482 --> 01:03:00,944
of how exactly is the rest
of your life gonna go

1490
01:03:01,027 --> 01:03:04,364
when you're done at 33?

1491
01:03:04,489 --> 01:03:07,450
Okay, see if I can
get one done here.

1492
01:03:07,534 --> 01:03:09,202
<i>All they knew at the time</i>

1493
01:03:09,286 --> 01:03:12,330
<i>was stuff like that,
you don't recover from,</i>

1494
01:03:12,455 --> 01:03:14,624
people don't get back
in the ring and wrestle again.

1495
01:03:14,708 --> 01:03:15,959
The thing is,

1496
01:03:16,084 --> 01:03:19,796
I can't keep coming out here
week after week after week

1497
01:03:19,879 --> 01:03:21,298
going back and forth
with all this.

1498
01:03:21,381 --> 01:03:23,967
I get to get busy with my
rehab‐‐

1499
01:03:24,050 --> 01:03:25,635
My physical therapy.

1500
01:03:25,719 --> 01:03:28,513
My physical therapy
for my back.

1501
01:03:28,596 --> 01:03:29,597
[sighs]

1502
01:03:29,681 --> 01:03:33,059
Now I've got a legitimate
reason to have pain pills

1503
01:03:33,184 --> 01:03:37,731
<i>and I've got a prescription
and everything else.</i>

1504
01:03:37,856 --> 01:03:39,190
I just wanna be a pro wrestler.

1505
01:03:39,316 --> 01:03:41,484
That's what I was trying
to go back to.

1506
01:03:41,568 --> 01:03:45,530
<i>So I began to start the Shawn
Michaels Wrestling Academy.</i>

1507
01:03:45,655 --> 01:03:47,824
<i>We had a couple of rings,
I had a little workout room.</i>

1508
01:03:47,907 --> 01:03:50,952
<i>There were a couple of guys
that came through my school</i>

1509
01:03:51,036 --> 01:03:53,830
<i>that went on to have
WWE success.</i>

1510
01:03:53,913 --> 01:03:55,582
<i>It was a great experience,
it really was.</i>

1511
01:03:55,707 --> 01:03:59,336
<i>I did it for about
two and a half, three years.</i>

1512
01:03:59,461 --> 01:04:03,506
<i>So I'm at home,
and I'm watching TV,</i>

1513
01:04:03,631 --> 01:04:04,799
<i>and then all of a sudden</i>

1514
01:04:04,883 --> 01:04:06,343
<i>the introduction
of this new Nitro Girl.</i>

1515
01:04:06,468 --> 01:04:10,055
‐ <i>Tampa Bay
girl herself, Whisper.</i>

1516
01:04:10,180 --> 01:04:15,018
And she's out there
with this chair,

1517
01:04:15,143 --> 01:04:20,106
just doing this dance,
and it's captivating.

1518
01:04:20,190 --> 01:04:23,526
And she's absolutely the most
beautiful thing I've ever seen.

1519
01:04:23,651 --> 01:04:25,779
<i>[soft music]</i>

1520
01:04:25,862 --> 01:04:27,405
‐ <i>We were at a rehearsal</i>

1521
01:04:27,489 --> 01:04:29,157
<i>and one
of the Nitro Girls, Spice,</i>

1522
01:04:29,240 --> 01:04:31,368
<i>had mentioned to me that
a man named Shawn Michaels,</i>

1523
01:04:31,451 --> 01:04:33,953
a former wrestler,
wanted to meet me

1524
01:04:34,037 --> 01:04:35,830
and that was the first time
I'd ever heard of him.

1525
01:04:35,914 --> 01:04:36,998
I called her up.

1526
01:04:37,082 --> 01:04:38,875
We probably
talked for three hours

1527
01:04:38,958 --> 01:04:40,668
on the phone each night
for two weeks.

1528
01:04:40,794 --> 01:04:42,670
‐ Two weeks of talking
and emailing,

1529
01:04:42,754 --> 01:04:46,716
and then I flew out
to San Antonio to see him,

1530
01:04:46,841 --> 01:04:49,010
and we dated
for about two weeks.

1531
01:04:49,094 --> 01:04:50,637
<i>After that he told me
he loved me,</i>

1532
01:04:50,720 --> 01:04:51,888
<i>and I told him I loved him.</i>

1533
01:04:52,013 --> 01:04:53,973
Two weeks after that,
we got married.

1534
01:04:54,057 --> 01:04:57,769
‐ It was the Graceland
Wedding Chapel, yeah. Yeah.

1535
01:04:57,852 --> 01:04:59,729
<i>You know,
an Elvis impersonator</i>

1536
01:04:59,854 --> 01:05:00,772
<i>walking down the aisle.</i>

1537
01:05:00,855 --> 01:05:02,732
[humming]

1538
01:05:02,857 --> 01:05:04,234
It was fantastic.

1539
01:05:04,359 --> 01:05:08,154
It was just the greatest‐‐
the greatest thing ever.

1540
01:05:08,279 --> 01:05:12,492
<i>There was one evening
where my pills have kicked in,</i>

1541
01:05:12,617 --> 01:05:15,328
<i>and I'm out of it.</i>

1542
01:05:15,412 --> 01:05:17,455
‐ <i>Shawn was in
tremendous pain.</i>

1543
01:05:17,539 --> 01:05:19,958
<i>When he would take
the muscle relaxers,</i>

1544
01:05:20,041 --> 01:05:24,546
he would usually pass
out over his food.

1545
01:05:24,629 --> 01:05:27,006
<i>The very first time
that Shawn ever did that</i>

1546
01:05:27,132 --> 01:05:28,299
<i>was when we were
first married,</i>

1547
01:05:28,383 --> 01:05:30,009
<i>so it was a bit of a shock
to me.</i>

1548
01:05:30,093 --> 01:05:31,511
<i>So I got him in the shower,</i>

1549
01:05:31,636 --> 01:05:33,430
<i>'cause he had spilled food
all over his chest,</i>

1550
01:05:33,513 --> 01:05:38,017
and I would say it probably
happened a couple times a week.

1551
01:05:38,101 --> 01:05:40,937
‐ The worst time, again,

1552
01:05:41,020 --> 01:05:43,815
was when she was
eight months pregnant

1553
01:05:43,898 --> 01:05:45,233
and she's doing
everything she can,

1554
01:05:45,316 --> 01:05:46,860
at eight months pregnant
with her belly,

1555
01:05:46,985 --> 01:05:49,779
trying to hold me up.

1556
01:05:49,863 --> 01:05:51,239
‐ <i>I took pity on him,</i>

1557
01:05:51,364 --> 01:05:53,491
<i>and I just prayed for him,
is all I could do.</i>

1558
01:05:53,616 --> 01:05:55,326
<i>But it didn't make me think,
you know,</i>

1559
01:05:55,410 --> 01:05:57,203
<i>"What in the world
have I gotten into?"</i>

1560
01:05:57,287 --> 01:06:00,206
If I was fearful, I was fearful
for our unborn child.

1561
01:06:00,290 --> 01:06:03,835
And I hoped that it would end
whenever the baby was born,

1562
01:06:03,960 --> 01:06:06,254
and it didn't.

1563
01:06:06,337 --> 01:06:11,426
‐ <i>Here in Cleveland,
Ohio, we will make history.</i>

1564
01:06:11,509 --> 01:06:13,803
‐ <i>I don't remember
why Shawn was there.</i>

1565
01:06:13,928 --> 01:06:17,056
<i>He must have been some doing
something in the show.</i>

1566
01:06:17,182 --> 01:06:21,936
We all go, me, Taker,
Rock, Vince is in the ring.

1567
01:06:22,020 --> 01:06:23,688
<i>"Now I own WCW."</i>

1568
01:06:23,813 --> 01:06:28,318
Shawn is messed up, pilled up.

1569
01:06:28,401 --> 01:06:31,654
So this is
a celebratory moment.

1570
01:06:31,779 --> 01:06:36,367
He's belligerent, loud,
falling down, staggering,

1571
01:06:36,493 --> 01:06:42,040
Vince calls him in, tells him,
"Go home, I'm done with you."

1572
01:06:42,165 --> 01:06:44,501
Shawn goes ballistic.

1573
01:06:44,584 --> 01:06:47,962
Walks by me in the hallway,
just goes off.

1574
01:06:48,046 --> 01:06:51,007
‐ You know, I went

1575
01:06:51,132 --> 01:06:54,010
and browbeat Hunter
unfairly, obviously.

1576
01:06:54,135 --> 01:06:56,513
‐ And I just went off back,

1577
01:06:56,596 --> 01:06:59,849
you know, in his face,
screaming match back and forth,

1578
01:06:59,933 --> 01:07:01,267
and he storms out.

1579
01:07:01,351 --> 01:07:02,560
‐ Now that's another one
that makes me cry.

1580
01:07:02,685 --> 01:07:04,646
I went and said some
mean stuff to him

1581
01:07:04,771 --> 01:07:06,439
and walked out.

1582
01:07:06,523 --> 01:07:10,026
And, you know,

1583
01:07:10,151 --> 01:07:12,487
that sucks as well.

1584
01:07:13,988 --> 01:07:18,826
‐ And I don't talk to him
for a long time.

1585
01:07:18,910 --> 01:07:22,080
‐ We didn't speak,
I don't know,

1586
01:07:22,205 --> 01:07:25,166
I mean I would think at least
a year, two years.

1587
01:07:25,250 --> 01:07:28,586
It was, what do they call it,
the rock bottom.

1588
01:07:28,670 --> 01:07:31,881
<i>[dramatic music]</i>

1589
01:07:32,882 --> 01:07:36,302
[indistinct chatter]

1590
01:07:36,386 --> 01:07:39,055
‐ <i>Our son was at the age
to where he was,</i>

1591
01:07:39,180 --> 01:07:41,641
<i>you know, walking around,
more aware of things,</i>

1592
01:07:41,683 --> 01:07:43,184
<i>and it was the night</i>

1593
01:07:43,309 --> 01:07:45,019
<i>when Shawn had fallen asleep
on the couch‐‐</i>

1594
01:07:45,144 --> 01:07:46,145
<i>a drug‐induced sleep‐‐</i>

1595
01:07:46,229 --> 01:07:48,064
with our son
climbing all over him

1596
01:07:48,189 --> 01:07:49,566
and saying, "Daddy's asleep."

1597
01:07:49,691 --> 01:07:51,484
‐ To me,
the biggest thing again

1598
01:07:51,568 --> 01:07:54,153
was Cameron saying,
"Daddy's tired."

1599
01:07:54,237 --> 01:07:56,281
<i>And it sort of dawning on me</i>

1600
01:07:56,364 --> 01:07:59,075
<i>that he was now being able
to recognize</i>

1601
01:07:59,200 --> 01:08:02,745
clearly my state of mind.

1602
01:08:02,829 --> 01:08:05,373
<i>I went into the bathroom
and closed the door.</i>

1603
01:08:05,456 --> 01:08:07,166
<i>Looking at yourself
in the mirror</i>

1604
01:08:07,250 --> 01:08:09,168
and, you know,

1605
01:08:09,252 --> 01:08:12,046
I sat there and cried
like a baby and wept,

1606
01:08:12,171 --> 01:08:15,008
you know,
realizing that you are failing,

1607
01:08:15,133 --> 01:08:17,260
you know,
a two‐year‐old little boy.

1608
01:08:17,343 --> 01:08:19,220
And all of those things

1609
01:08:19,345 --> 01:08:22,515
sort of came crashing down
that night,

1610
01:08:22,640 --> 01:08:26,060
and I just‐‐it's the first
time I ever feel

1611
01:08:26,144 --> 01:08:28,479
like such a frickin' failure.

1612
01:08:28,605 --> 01:08:30,106
And I think that that was
the last straw for him,

1613
01:08:30,189 --> 01:08:32,817
and when he woke up
the next morning,

1614
01:08:32,900 --> 01:08:35,945
he told me he was never
taking pills or drinking again,

1615
01:08:36,029 --> 01:08:37,989
and from that point,
he didn't.

1616
01:08:38,072 --> 01:08:39,991
<i>It was an instantaneous
letting go</i>

1617
01:08:40,074 --> 01:08:41,534
<i>of the drugs and alcohol.</i>

1618
01:08:41,659 --> 01:08:43,369
‐ <i>I just called him
up out of the clear blue,</i>

1619
01:08:43,494 --> 01:08:46,539
I just asked him when the last
time he talked to Paul,

1620
01:08:46,664 --> 01:08:51,711
and, um, he just avoided
that situation.

1621
01:08:51,836 --> 01:08:56,924
I just said, "Man, you're wrong,
you got to call him."

1622
01:08:57,008 --> 01:08:58,593
I called Hunter
and let him know,

1623
01:08:58,676 --> 01:09:02,680
you know, how sorry I was
and how out of line I was.

1624
01:09:02,805 --> 01:09:04,807
And I said,
"I hope you can forgive me."

1625
01:09:04,932 --> 01:09:07,143
I needed that from Hunter.

1626
01:09:07,226 --> 01:09:09,479
For me, it was easy,
like, I didn't‐‐

1627
01:09:09,562 --> 01:09:11,981
as long as it
wasn't drugs talking to me.

1628
01:09:12,065 --> 01:09:13,650
‐ It's good to see you.

1629
01:09:13,691 --> 01:09:14,651
[patting]

1630
01:09:14,776 --> 01:09:15,652
‐ Group hug.

1631
01:09:15,777 --> 01:09:18,279
‐ <i>Of course,
I do regret the pain</i>

1632
01:09:18,363 --> 01:09:20,281
<i>that it caused people
in my life,</i>

1633
01:09:20,365 --> 01:09:23,076
but there is a part of that
that I don't think

1634
01:09:23,201 --> 01:09:27,288
that Michael Shawn Hickenbottom
can get

1635
01:09:27,372 --> 01:09:29,582
to where he got creatively

1636
01:09:29,707 --> 01:09:34,671
without a little bit of that
reckless, risky mindset.

1637
01:09:34,796 --> 01:09:38,758
I wouldn't have
had the guts to do it.

1638
01:09:38,841 --> 01:09:41,219
‐ <i>It was our
first Christmas together,</i>

1639
01:09:41,344 --> 01:09:43,429
and I gave Shawn a Bible
and some other books,

1640
01:09:43,513 --> 01:09:45,348
and he began reading them.

1641
01:09:45,473 --> 01:09:48,976
‐ <i>I had never had anything
that I could grasp</i>

1642
01:09:49,060 --> 01:09:51,312
<i>that was bigger
than the wrestling business.</i>

1643
01:09:51,396 --> 01:09:55,566
That's just not enough to base,
I don't know, a life on.

1644
01:09:56,651 --> 01:09:59,153
‐ <i>I worked at Cornerstone
Church in San Antonio, Texas.</i>

1645
01:09:59,237 --> 01:10:02,031
All of a sudden
I heard a deep voice said,

1646
01:10:02,115 --> 01:10:04,450
"I want to come
to a Bible study."

1647
01:10:04,534 --> 01:10:06,577
And then I got up from my desk

1648
01:10:06,703 --> 01:10:08,830
and stuck my head out the door,

1649
01:10:08,913 --> 01:10:10,748
and I said,
"Well, you can come to mine."

1650
01:10:10,873 --> 01:10:12,917
<i>When he left,
everybody came out and said,</i>

1651
01:10:12,959 --> 01:10:14,585
<i>"Do you know who that was?"</i>

1652
01:10:14,669 --> 01:10:16,212
<i>I said, "No, I don't know
who that was, who was it?"</i>

1653
01:10:16,337 --> 01:10:17,630
And they said,
"Shawn Michaels,"

1654
01:10:17,714 --> 01:10:19,674
and I said,
"Well, who's Shawn Michaels?"

1655
01:10:22,093 --> 01:10:23,553
<i>He said, "Well, first, Keith,</i>

1656
01:10:23,678 --> 01:10:26,305
<i>I want you to pray
for my back."</i>

1657
01:10:26,389 --> 01:10:28,057
He says,
"I've been out of wrestling

1658
01:10:28,182 --> 01:10:29,308
<i>and I want to go back."</i>

1659
01:10:29,392 --> 01:10:31,060
<i>I said, "Well,
there's a simple prayer</i>

1660
01:10:31,144 --> 01:10:32,478
<i>that we can pray together."</i>

1661
01:10:32,603 --> 01:10:34,981
<i>And while he was saying
that prayer,</i>

1662
01:10:35,064 --> 01:10:38,359
tears just come
out of his eyes.

1663
01:10:38,484 --> 01:10:40,486
‐ <i>I got nobody
to blame but me,</i>

1664
01:10:40,570 --> 01:10:43,489
<i>and I don't have anything
in common with the other dude,</i>

1665
01:10:43,573 --> 01:10:45,408
<i>and I don't know
how I got that way.</i>

1666
01:10:45,533 --> 01:10:48,244
It wasn't from family.
It wasn't from upbringing.

1667
01:10:48,327 --> 01:10:50,079
‐ He was so desperate

1668
01:10:50,163 --> 01:10:54,208
to get back in that close
relationship with Rebecca

1669
01:10:54,333 --> 01:10:55,918
<i>and his son.</i>

1670
01:10:56,002 --> 01:10:57,795
‐ <i>I was now a dad,
I was a husband,</i>

1671
01:10:57,837 --> 01:11:03,134
and I was really devoted
and thrilled about that.

1672
01:11:03,259 --> 01:11:04,469
‐ You're like a child,

1673
01:11:04,594 --> 01:11:07,346
you just want to tell
everybody, "I've been saved."

1674
01:11:14,312 --> 01:11:15,980
<i>‐ Once Shawn got
his life together</i>

1675
01:11:16,022 --> 01:11:18,232
<i>and found Christ,
it was night and day.</i>

1676
01:11:18,316 --> 01:11:19,692
<i>When he looks back
at his life,</i>

1677
01:11:19,776 --> 01:11:22,153
that's the biggest thing
that he ever did.

1678
01:11:22,236 --> 01:11:23,529
‐ <i>You were
dealing with the grownup</i>

1679
01:11:23,654 --> 01:11:24,906
<i>when Shawn came back,</i>

1680
01:11:25,031 --> 01:11:27,825
<i>someone who was there
to do business.</i>

1681
01:11:27,909 --> 01:11:31,162
Shawn was a lot calmer
and much easier to deal with.

1682
01:11:31,245 --> 01:11:32,830
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels of old</i>

1683
01:11:32,955 --> 01:11:34,582
<i>is very different from Shawn
Hickenbottom,</i>

1684
01:11:34,707 --> 01:11:35,917
<i>the man I married.</i>

1685
01:11:36,000 --> 01:11:37,960
<i>The sexy boy
and all that kinda stuff,</i>

1686
01:11:38,002 --> 01:11:39,253
and his cocky attitude

1687
01:11:39,337 --> 01:11:41,130
and the cocky little smile
that he does.

1688
01:11:41,214 --> 01:11:45,301
That's so far
from who he really is.

1689
01:11:45,426 --> 01:11:47,011
‐ <i>I remember
somebody asking me,</i>

1690
01:11:47,136 --> 01:11:50,556
<i>they said, you know, "Hey,
I heard Shawn found religion."</i>

1691
01:11:50,640 --> 01:11:52,058
<i>Yeah. They laughed,</i>

1692
01:11:52,141 --> 01:11:56,979
and I said, "I don't anybody
that died OD'ing on religion."

1693
01:11:57,104 --> 01:11:58,648
‐ <i>He had called Triple H.</i>

1694
01:11:58,731 --> 01:12:01,818
<i>He thanked Hunter
for the time on the road</i>

1695
01:12:01,901 --> 01:12:04,695
because before his marriage
to me,

1696
01:12:04,821 --> 01:12:08,449
the one who took
care of him was Hunter.

1697
01:12:08,533 --> 01:12:10,993
That night, after Shawn
had gone to bed,

1698
01:12:11,077 --> 01:12:14,747
he woke up in the morning and
the pain was gone in his back.

1699
01:12:14,872 --> 01:12:16,749
<i>It was definitely a miracle.</i>

1700
01:12:16,833 --> 01:12:19,710
<i>So, he was physically ready
to go back in the ring,</i>

1701
01:12:19,836 --> 01:12:24,048
and I knew that the Lord
would take care of him.

1702
01:12:24,173 --> 01:12:25,716
‐ <i>We were kind of
having conversations</i>

1703
01:12:25,800 --> 01:12:27,718
<i>at the time, and then he said,</i>

1704
01:12:27,844 --> 01:12:29,262
"I want my son to see me
do this one time,"

1705
01:12:29,345 --> 01:12:30,805
he said, "But I don't know
that I can do it,

1706
01:12:30,888 --> 01:12:32,723
I don't know physically
if I can or not,"

1707
01:12:32,807 --> 01:12:34,308
and he said, "If I'm going to,

1708
01:12:34,392 --> 01:12:37,436
I only trust one person,
that's you.

1709
01:12:37,520 --> 01:12:40,481
If you consider it,
I would love to do it.

1710
01:12:40,565 --> 01:12:44,402
What do you think?"

1711
01:12:44,527 --> 01:12:48,030
‐ <i>Moments away
from the non‐sanctioned fight</i>

1712
01:12:48,155 --> 01:12:51,659
between two men who were,
at one time, best friends,

1713
01:12:51,701 --> 01:12:53,786
Shawn Michaels and Triple H.

1714
01:12:53,870 --> 01:12:59,375
<i>Shawn Michaels last wrestled
1,609 days ago,</i>

1715
01:12:59,500 --> 01:13:02,044
<i>if you can believe that.</i>

1716
01:13:02,169 --> 01:13:03,337
‐ <i>His whole family was there.</i>

1717
01:13:03,421 --> 01:13:06,048
<i>You know,
they were all scared to death.</i>

1718
01:13:06,173 --> 01:13:07,842
Got in the ring,
did a couple of things.

1719
01:13:07,967 --> 01:13:09,635
[bell rings]

1720
01:13:09,719 --> 01:13:12,722
<i>Never missed a beat,
not a moment, not an anything.</i>

1721
01:13:12,847 --> 01:13:14,724
‐ I was on my chair
like a redneck,

1722
01:13:14,807 --> 01:13:16,517
just screaming
and yelling for him.

1723
01:13:16,601 --> 01:13:17,894
<i>Of course, I cried at the end.</i>

1724
01:13:17,977 --> 01:13:19,478
‐ <i>Like,
how is this possible,</i>

1725
01:13:19,604 --> 01:13:24,525
<i>that he is this good still,
after all that time</i>

1726
01:13:24,609 --> 01:13:28,821
and injury and everything else?
Unbelievable.

1727
01:13:28,905 --> 01:13:32,783
‐ <i>It was just as easy
as the day is long,</i>

1728
01:13:32,867 --> 01:13:34,660
it was poetic,
it was phenomenal,

1729
01:13:34,744 --> 01:13:38,205
it was everything that is right
and good about the world

1730
01:13:38,289 --> 01:13:41,334
in this line of work, and,
you know, my family there,

1731
01:13:41,417 --> 01:13:42,960
<i>out there
with my best friend.</i>

1732
01:13:43,085 --> 01:13:50,134
‐ <i>The Heartbreak Kid,
Shawn Michaels!</i>

1733
01:13:50,217 --> 01:13:51,802
‐ <i>After the Summerslam,</i>

1734
01:13:51,886 --> 01:13:54,221
<i>that's when there was
a sense of peace and joy</i>

1735
01:13:54,347 --> 01:13:56,807
<i>in the midst of doing
your job and your family,</i>

1736
01:13:56,933 --> 01:14:01,270
combining these two worlds
that I've never had together,

1737
01:14:01,354 --> 01:14:02,939
and I'm not even
the same person.

1738
01:14:03,022 --> 01:14:06,525
And now,
and it all feels so right.

1739
01:14:06,609 --> 01:14:07,735
That's as good as it gets,
you know,

1740
01:14:07,818 --> 01:14:10,488
it's heaven on Earth here
in this room.

1741
01:14:10,571 --> 01:14:12,990
‐ Shawn Michaels
changed completely

1742
01:14:13,115 --> 01:14:14,367
as a human being.

1743
01:14:14,492 --> 01:14:16,243
<i>And somehow, as a character,</i>

1744
01:14:16,369 --> 01:14:21,874
<i>he managed to keep a lot
of the aura that he always had.</i>

1745
01:14:21,999 --> 01:14:26,587
I could argue that Shawn was
at his best after he came back.

1746
01:14:26,671 --> 01:14:29,757
[cheers and applause]

1747
01:14:29,840 --> 01:14:31,634
‐ <i>To me,</i>

1748
01:14:31,717 --> 01:14:36,222
the greatest in‐ring performer

1749
01:14:36,347 --> 01:14:38,307
of all time.

1750
01:14:39,642 --> 01:14:41,560
<i>[soft music]</i>

1751
01:14:41,644 --> 01:14:43,729
‐ It gets more difficult

1752
01:14:43,854 --> 01:14:46,023
to find a new mountain,
a new challenge.

1753
01:14:46,148 --> 01:14:48,651
Sometimes that mountain
or that new challenge

1754
01:14:48,693 --> 01:14:49,860
just isn't there.

1755
01:14:49,944 --> 01:14:51,404
And so later on in my career,
I learned that

1756
01:14:51,529 --> 01:14:54,281
when I disconnect from it,
something will usually happen,

1757
01:14:54,365 --> 01:14:56,158
and, you know,
the one with Flair

1758
01:14:56,200 --> 01:14:59,328
is the one I honestly
always speak of.

1759
01:14:59,453 --> 01:15:01,914
Remember the story
of Old Yeller?

1760
01:15:01,998 --> 01:15:05,126
The Showstopper's gonna
take you, Old Yeller,

1761
01:15:05,209 --> 01:15:10,339
behind the woodshed
and put you out of your misery.

1762
01:15:10,464 --> 01:15:14,510
I lost myself in that drama.
[laughs]

1763
01:15:14,635 --> 01:15:16,012
<i>I get a call from my buddy,
Kenny,</i>

1764
01:15:16,137 --> 01:15:17,888
<i>who's now been
made aware of the match.</i>

1765
01:15:18,014 --> 01:15:19,890
It's like, oh my goodness,
he said, "Can you believe it?"

1766
01:15:20,016 --> 01:15:23,811
‐ It was overwhelming to think
that the guy that we idolized

1767
01:15:23,853 --> 01:15:27,606
that we would watch a little TV
box in San Antonio, Texas,

1768
01:15:27,690 --> 01:15:30,276
somehow their lives were going
to interconnect.

1769
01:15:30,359 --> 01:15:33,195
Ric was his guy.
He absolutely loved Ric Flair.

1770
01:15:33,279 --> 01:15:36,365
‐ <i>Kenny took me back
to that time.</i>

1771
01:15:39,744 --> 01:15:43,247
<i>‐ This was why I went
from New York to Orlando,</i>

1772
01:15:43,372 --> 01:15:46,167
was to see this moment.

1773
01:15:46,208 --> 01:15:47,209
[bell rings]

1774
01:15:47,293 --> 01:15:48,753
‐ <i>Now in this match,</i>

1775
01:15:48,836 --> 01:15:53,382
<i>should Ric Flair lose,
he must retire.</i>

1776
01:15:53,466 --> 01:15:54,759
‐ <i>I remember feeling</i>

1777
01:15:54,842 --> 01:15:56,802
like the way Ric Flair
started this match,

1778
01:15:56,927 --> 01:15:59,805
that he had a chance.

1779
01:15:59,930 --> 01:16:02,224
[grunts]

1780
01:16:02,308 --> 01:16:04,977
‐ There's no other way
to put it‐‐he carried me.

1781
01:16:05,061 --> 01:16:08,564
He gave everything
that anybody could ever give

1782
01:16:08,689 --> 01:16:10,232
to a match that night.

1783
01:16:10,316 --> 01:16:13,194
‐ <i>Oh, wait a minute,
wait a minute, look out.</i>

1784
01:16:13,319 --> 01:16:15,613
<i>Good grief!</i>

1785
01:16:15,696 --> 01:16:17,573
<i>Oh, not again!</i>

1786
01:16:17,656 --> 01:16:18,866
‐ <i>It becomes clear</i>

1787
01:16:18,991 --> 01:16:22,244
that Ric Flair
just doesn't have enough.

1788
01:16:22,328 --> 01:16:25,247
<i>I love this part, I could
tear up talking about it.</i>

1789
01:16:25,372 --> 01:16:28,292
<i>Flair, like an old dog,
still fighting,</i>

1790
01:16:28,375 --> 01:16:30,127
he thinks he still has it.

1791
01:16:30,211 --> 01:16:34,131
And that's when Shawn sort
of has to have that moment

1792
01:16:34,256 --> 01:16:36,634
where he says,
"I'm sorry, I love you."

1793
01:16:36,759 --> 01:16:38,761
‐ <i>Flair wants to fight.</i>

1794
01:16:38,844 --> 01:16:40,971
‐ <i>And just turns
the lights out.</i>

1795
01:16:41,055 --> 01:16:46,477
It was as beautiful and perfect
an ending to a wrestling match

1796
01:16:46,602 --> 01:16:48,479
as you will ever have.

1797
01:16:48,521 --> 01:16:50,898
<i>‐ He knew I didn't
want to go,</i>

1798
01:16:51,023 --> 01:16:53,734
<i>and he said,
"I love you."</i>

1799
01:16:53,818 --> 01:16:54,902
<i>It's a great moment
in wrestling.</i>

1800
01:16:54,985 --> 01:16:56,737
<i>I don't care what anyone says,</i>

1801
01:16:56,821 --> 01:16:59,782
you can't replace something
like that.

1802
01:16:59,865 --> 01:17:01,158
‐ <i>Unashamed</i>

1803
01:17:01,242 --> 01:17:03,619
<i>that it was my love letter to,
you know,</i>

1804
01:17:03,702 --> 01:17:07,706
the wrestling business
and to Ric Flair.

1805
01:17:12,336 --> 01:17:16,173
‐ It is show day,
and we're off to the shi‐zow.

1806
01:17:16,257 --> 01:17:19,760
<i>I've been doing this
for 35 years,</i>

1807
01:17:19,844 --> 01:17:20,970
and days like today,

1808
01:17:21,053 --> 01:17:22,930
it's a different kind
of anxiety that I have now.

1809
01:17:23,013 --> 01:17:24,765
I have anxiety
for the performers

1810
01:17:24,849 --> 01:17:26,892
for the entire show as a whole.

1811
01:17:27,017 --> 01:17:29,186
For me it's just
all fantastic,

1812
01:17:29,311 --> 01:17:31,522
especially when it goes well
for them,

1813
01:17:31,647 --> 01:17:33,023
and they come back
and they're jacked.

1814
01:17:33,107 --> 01:17:34,900
It's ten times better than‐‐

1815
01:17:35,025 --> 01:17:36,652
than when I had
that opportunity.

1816
01:17:36,777 --> 01:17:38,696
This is where
I'm supposed to be.

1817
01:17:38,821 --> 01:17:41,740
I absolutely love it.

1818
01:17:43,367 --> 01:17:45,536
<i>[soft music]</i>

1819
01:17:45,619 --> 01:17:46,871
‐ What moment would you say

1820
01:17:46,996 --> 01:17:49,081
you're most proud of,
and then by the same token,

1821
01:17:49,165 --> 01:17:51,041
what moment would you say
you are least proud of?

1822
01:17:51,167 --> 01:17:52,585
‐ <i>Most proud I guess would be</i>

1823
01:17:52,668 --> 01:17:54,128
<i>winning the world title.</i>

1824
01:17:54,211 --> 01:17:57,715
And least proud would probably
be the Montreal incident.

1825
01:17:57,840 --> 01:18:00,676
<i>One is everything
you aspire to do,</i>

1826
01:18:00,801 --> 01:18:02,219
and the other
is the complete opposite.

1827
01:18:02,344 --> 01:18:05,139
Something you really
don't want to be a part of.

1828
01:18:05,264 --> 01:18:08,809
<i>It's the long‐term guilt,
it's the shame,</i>

1829
01:18:08,893 --> 01:18:11,687
it's the loathing that you know
this person has for you.

1830
01:18:11,812 --> 01:18:13,522
‐ <i>There was so much
bad blood between us,</i>

1831
01:18:13,647 --> 01:18:18,110
and I was always like,
if I see him, I'll kill him.

1832
01:18:18,194 --> 01:18:20,654
<i>I've always believed
that I had so much anger,</i>

1833
01:18:20,779 --> 01:18:22,281
<i>that I think it
led to my stroke</i>

1834
01:18:22,364 --> 01:18:23,991
<i>and lot of things
that I went through.</i>

1835
01:18:24,116 --> 01:18:25,451
<i>And I remember
thinking about Shawn</i>

1836
01:18:25,534 --> 01:18:27,703
<i>and how we were good friends
once upon a time,</i>

1837
01:18:27,786 --> 01:18:29,997
<i>and, you know,
that it wasn't just Shawn.</i>

1838
01:18:30,122 --> 01:18:31,373
<i>I was guilty too.</i>

1839
01:18:31,457 --> 01:18:33,959
And I remember thinking
it'd be good to put it to bed.

1840
01:18:34,084 --> 01:18:36,503
‐ <i>And I've certainly
talked about my regret</i>

1841
01:18:36,629 --> 01:18:39,173
<i>and the hope
for reconciliation.</i>

1842
01:18:39,298 --> 01:18:41,217
It took him some time
to get there.

1843
01:18:41,342 --> 01:18:42,927
<i>Vince had suggested
there's gotta be a way</i>

1844
01:18:43,010 --> 01:18:46,472
we can do this live,
in front of the world.

1845
01:18:46,513 --> 01:18:48,098
‐ I've got 12 years
of things

1846
01:18:48,182 --> 01:18:49,391
that I've wanted
to get off my chest.

1847
01:18:49,516 --> 01:18:50,768
I want to call back there

1848
01:18:50,851 --> 01:18:53,479
and ask Shawn Michaels
to come out here.

1849
01:18:53,562 --> 01:18:55,147
I call for a truce,

1850
01:18:55,231 --> 01:18:57,233
and I call for you
to shake my hand.

1851
01:18:57,358 --> 01:18:59,401
<i>The fact that we did that
in the ring</i>

1852
01:18:59,485 --> 01:19:01,737
and we shook hands
and all that was very honest

1853
01:19:01,862 --> 01:19:03,656
and very sincere.

1854
01:19:03,739 --> 01:19:05,407
‐ <i>You know
that everybody's watching</i>

1855
01:19:05,491 --> 01:19:06,742
<i>when you are trying to have
this very real moment</i>

1856
01:19:06,867 --> 01:19:07,993
<i>with one another.</i>

1857
01:19:08,035 --> 01:19:09,745
Art does imitate life.

1858
01:19:09,870 --> 01:19:12,081
‐ He's matured,
and he's a different guy,

1859
01:19:12,206 --> 01:19:13,916
[cheers and applause]

1860
01:19:14,041 --> 01:19:15,167
<i>and I thought he finally,
you know,</i>

1861
01:19:15,292 --> 01:19:16,919
<i>he's got his priorities
all in order.</i>

1862
01:19:17,002 --> 01:19:19,213
<i>[cheers and applause]</i>

1863
01:19:19,296 --> 01:19:20,589
‐ <i>Welcome</i>

1864
01:19:20,673 --> 01:19:23,467
<i>to the 25th anniversary</i>

1865
01:19:23,550 --> 01:19:27,805
<i>of WrestleMania!</i>

1866
01:19:27,888 --> 01:19:31,308
<i>70,000 WWE fans.</i>

1867
01:19:31,433 --> 01:19:34,311
‐ <i>By the time Shawn
Michaels and Undertaker</i>

1868
01:19:34,436 --> 01:19:36,814
meet at WrestleMania 25,
they're veterans,

1869
01:19:36,897 --> 01:19:38,274
they've been around forever.

1870
01:19:38,357 --> 01:19:39,358
And somehow,

1871
01:19:39,483 --> 01:19:43,696
they're actually
both in their absolute prime.

1872
01:19:43,821 --> 01:19:48,659
[ethereal music playing]

1873
01:19:48,742 --> 01:19:50,369
<i>‐ One of my
favorite entrances,</i>

1874
01:19:50,494 --> 01:19:51,870
<i>Shawn as The Undertaker,</i>

1875
01:19:51,954 --> 01:19:56,083
but in all white,
ascending from the clouds.

1876
01:19:56,208 --> 01:20:01,964
<i>Such a stark contrast
to what I'm about to do.</i>

1877
01:20:02,006 --> 01:20:05,426
<i>It was the battle between
heaven and hell.</i>

1878
01:20:05,509 --> 01:20:06,760
‐ <i>Prior to 2002,</i>

1879
01:20:06,844 --> 01:20:09,013
<i>we did not have a great
relationship.</i>

1880
01:20:09,096 --> 01:20:11,181
We did not like each other
outside the ring.

1881
01:20:11,307 --> 01:20:14,018
‐ <i>This guy,
I genuinely liked now.</i>

1882
01:20:14,101 --> 01:20:16,645
And it had been years
and years and years

1883
01:20:16,770 --> 01:20:19,356
since we had worked together,

1884
01:20:19,440 --> 01:20:21,400
<i>since the time
that he had injured himself</i>

1885
01:20:21,483 --> 01:20:22,985
<i>in the casket match.</i>

1886
01:20:23,068 --> 01:20:24,403
‐ <i>Unknown to us
at the time,</i>

1887
01:20:24,528 --> 01:20:27,656
we're about to create one of
the most epic things ever done

1888
01:20:27,781 --> 01:20:29,325
in the wrestling business.

1889
01:20:29,408 --> 01:20:31,327
‐ <i>There's that
brash arrogance.</i>

1890
01:20:31,452 --> 01:20:36,582
<i>70,000 chanting HBK
the other half, Undertaker.</i>

1891
01:20:36,665 --> 01:20:38,167
[audience screaming]

1892
01:20:38,208 --> 01:20:40,586
‐ Ooh!
‐ Whoa!

1893
01:20:40,669 --> 01:20:43,672
[cheers and applause]

1894
01:20:43,756 --> 01:20:46,800
<i>[triumphant music]</i>

1895
01:20:46,884 --> 01:20:48,385
‐ <i>You know
when you're in the middle</i>

1896
01:20:48,510 --> 01:20:50,721
of something really special,
and we did.

1897
01:20:50,846 --> 01:20:52,931
‐ <i>Incoming!</i>

1898
01:20:53,015 --> 01:20:56,810
<i>Tombstone piledriver.</i>

1899
01:20:56,894 --> 01:21:00,481
<i>♪</i>

1900
01:21:00,606 --> 01:21:04,318
[bell rings]

1901
01:21:04,443 --> 01:21:06,862
‐ I just remember
getting to Shawn,

1902
01:21:06,987 --> 01:21:09,114
<i>and we just embraced,
and hugged,</i>

1903
01:21:09,198 --> 01:21:10,699
<i>and thanked each other.</i>

1904
01:21:10,824 --> 01:21:12,493
It was an awesome moment.

1905
01:21:12,576 --> 01:21:14,411
‐ <i>It was on the ride home
the next day,</i>

1906
01:21:14,495 --> 01:21:16,705
<i>just settling into me
that I just don't know</i>

1907
01:21:16,789 --> 01:21:19,875
that I'm ever going
to encounter,

1908
01:21:19,958 --> 01:21:21,960
from a performance standpoint,

1909
01:21:22,044 --> 01:21:24,129
anything greater
than that thing

1910
01:21:24,254 --> 01:21:26,715
that I experienced last night.

1911
01:21:26,840 --> 01:21:28,509
‐ There's only one match

1912
01:21:28,634 --> 01:21:31,220
that can be considered
Match of the Year,

1913
01:21:31,303 --> 01:21:33,889
Shawn Michaels
and the Undertaker.

1914
01:21:33,972 --> 01:21:37,893
[rock music playing]

1915
01:21:38,018 --> 01:21:42,314
‐ Undertaker, I can beat you.

1916
01:21:42,356 --> 01:21:49,029
You and me, WrestleMania,
one more time.

1917
01:21:49,154 --> 01:21:52,449
[cheers and applause]

1918
01:21:52,533 --> 01:21:55,911
‐ <i>So, I remember
tuning into WrestleMania 26.</i>

1919
01:21:55,994 --> 01:21:57,746
<i>I had a knot in my stomach</i>

1920
01:21:57,871 --> 01:22:01,625
knowing that if Shawn Michaels
wasn't able to win this one

1921
01:22:01,708 --> 01:22:03,043
<i>that he would retire.</i>

1922
01:22:03,168 --> 01:22:05,003
<i>But it was a beautiful,
artistic way</i>

1923
01:22:05,129 --> 01:22:07,548
<i>to end the career
of Shawn Michaels.</i>

1924
01:22:07,673 --> 01:22:13,178
[cheers and applause]

1925
01:22:13,303 --> 01:22:17,891
‐ One, two, three!
[bell dings]

1926
01:22:17,975 --> 01:22:22,980
‐ <i>Shawn Michaels'
career is over.</i>

1927
01:22:23,063 --> 01:22:24,648
‐ My heart was broken.
My heart was broken.

1928
01:22:24,731 --> 01:22:27,484
but I'm glad also that he got
to leave on his own terms.

1929
01:22:27,568 --> 01:22:30,195
<i>‐ It was important
that I get out of there</i>

1930
01:22:30,320 --> 01:22:33,574
to let the fans show him
the appreciation he deserved.

1931
01:22:33,699 --> 01:22:38,120
[cheers and applause]

1932
01:22:38,203 --> 01:22:40,205
‐ <i>I have to imagine
that Tom Brady</i>

1933
01:22:40,330 --> 01:22:43,625
<i>and Michael Jordan, as much
as they appreciate the fans,</i>

1934
01:22:43,709 --> 01:22:46,336
<i>I think more than anything
it's about their teammates</i>

1935
01:22:46,420 --> 01:22:49,673
and the people that they played
that means the most to them.

1936
01:22:49,798 --> 01:22:52,593
[clapping]

1937
01:22:52,676 --> 01:22:54,595
<i>[dramatic music]</i>

1938
01:22:54,678 --> 01:22:57,139
<i>A lot of time,
there's still a chasing</i>

1939
01:22:57,222 --> 01:22:58,515
<i>of that last perfect one,</i>

1940
01:22:58,640 --> 01:23:01,059
<i>and that's why
I'm so appreciative</i>

1941
01:23:01,185 --> 01:23:03,312
that I can define
some form of finish line.

1942
01:23:04,605 --> 01:23:06,607
<i>There's two things
that I thrive on,</i>

1943
01:23:06,690 --> 01:23:07,941
<i>it's two things
that I'm in love with,</i>

1944
01:23:08,025 --> 01:23:10,152
which is, you know,
Rebecca and the kids,

1945
01:23:10,194 --> 01:23:11,570
and the wrestling business.

1946
01:23:11,653 --> 01:23:14,156
Oh, yeah, my team.

1947
01:23:14,281 --> 01:23:16,241
<i>They're the two greatest
loves of my life.</i>

1948
01:23:16,366 --> 01:23:18,494
<i>That's never changed.</i>

1949
01:23:18,577 --> 01:23:21,205
[applause]

1950
01:23:22,748 --> 01:23:24,416
You've probably been
to more ladder matches

1951
01:23:24,541 --> 01:23:27,336
than half the people
in the ring, I would imagine.

1952
01:23:27,461 --> 01:23:29,087
[soft music]

1953
01:23:29,171 --> 01:23:31,715
And then stops,
loads up the‐‐

1954
01:23:31,840 --> 01:23:33,133
Whoa, he goes down.

1955
01:23:33,217 --> 01:23:35,969
‐ <i>It's awesome for me
to have Shawn there.</i>

1956
01:23:36,053 --> 01:23:37,513
I can tell you
what he's thinking,

1957
01:23:37,638 --> 01:23:40,015
he can tell you
what I'm thinking,

1958
01:23:40,098 --> 01:23:41,433
<i>and there's a chemistry there.</i>

1959
01:23:41,517 --> 01:23:42,476
<i>We have this uncanny
with each other.</i>

1960
01:23:42,559 --> 01:23:44,311
‐ There's just a little
something in there

1961
01:23:44,353 --> 01:23:46,230
to do, just a small little‐‐

1962
01:23:46,313 --> 01:23:48,023
‐ Shawn's, you know, a legend

1963
01:23:48,148 --> 01:23:51,902
and for a legend to walk
into an environment

1964
01:23:52,027 --> 01:23:52,903
full of performers.

1965
01:23:53,028 --> 01:23:54,446
‐ Go get them, boys.
[laughs]

1966
01:23:54,530 --> 01:23:56,907
<i>‐ They revere him so much.</i>

1967
01:23:56,990 --> 01:23:59,326
‐ <i>Welcome to NXT Takeover.</i>

1968
01:23:59,409 --> 01:24:02,329
<i>There is the North American
Championship.</i>

1969
01:24:02,412 --> 01:24:04,206
<i>Who will climb the ladder?</i>

1970
01:24:04,289 --> 01:24:05,874
<i>‐ Shawn has been a role model</i>

1971
01:24:05,958 --> 01:24:07,751
<i>both in and out of the ring.</i>

1972
01:24:07,834 --> 01:24:09,253
‐ Ding, ding, ding.

1973
01:24:09,336 --> 01:24:10,963
<i>‐ I have so much
respect for that man,</i>

1974
01:24:11,088 --> 01:24:13,799
for not just what he's done
for professional wrestling,

1975
01:24:13,882 --> 01:24:15,008
<i>but for the type
of person he is.</i>

1976
01:24:15,133 --> 01:24:16,301
‐ [laughs]

1977
01:24:16,426 --> 01:24:19,972
‐ To me and so many others,
he's the greatest.

1978
01:24:20,055 --> 01:24:22,015
[all exclaiming]

1979
01:24:22,140 --> 01:24:25,686
And it's insane
how kind, generous,

1980
01:24:25,811 --> 01:24:26,770
and humble the guy is.

1981
01:24:26,853 --> 01:24:28,272
‐ That is good stuff.

1982
01:24:28,355 --> 01:24:31,024
‐ <i>Sometimes
I think he doesn't realize</i>

1983
01:24:31,149 --> 01:24:32,067
that he's Shawn Michaels.

1984
01:24:32,192 --> 01:24:36,280
Step carefully.
Whoa! Gee.

1985
01:24:38,031 --> 01:24:41,201
Oh, my God!

1986
01:24:41,285 --> 01:24:42,619
That was frickin' great!

1987
01:24:42,703 --> 01:24:45,414
<i>When you said
a tale of two lives,</i>

1988
01:24:45,539 --> 01:24:49,960
<i>that's what it's been.</i>

1989
01:24:50,085 --> 01:24:52,129
Believe it or not,
the same business

1990
01:24:52,212 --> 01:24:54,339
that might have
almost killed me,

1991
01:24:54,423 --> 01:24:56,550
I think, is the same business
that saved me.

1992
01:24:56,633 --> 01:24:58,343
No, you did a great job,
phenomenal.

1993
01:24:58,468 --> 01:24:59,636
Thank you very much.

1994
01:24:59,720 --> 01:25:02,264
‐ These guys are easy
to work with, so‐‐

1995
01:25:02,347 --> 01:25:05,392
<i>‐ I know I accomplished
more than what I wanted.</i>

1996
01:25:05,517 --> 01:25:08,145
I never lost touch
with the 19‐year‐old dude

1997
01:25:08,270 --> 01:25:11,523
<i>that was hoping to have
a car and an apartment,</i>

1998
01:25:11,607 --> 01:25:14,109
<i>and be the Southwest
Heavy weight champion.</i>

1999
01:25:14,192 --> 01:25:16,486
A lot more has happened
since then.

2000
01:25:16,570 --> 01:25:20,407
[applause]

2001
01:25:20,532 --> 01:25:22,659
Whoa!

2002
01:25:22,784 --> 01:25:24,703
Jiminy Cricket.

2003
01:25:24,828 --> 01:25:29,666
Holy Toledo.
[laughs]

2004
01:25:29,708 --> 01:25:33,754
‐ That's like the Shawn thing.
That's like the Shawn dance.

2005
01:25:33,837 --> 01:25:36,965
‐ Golly!

2006
01:25:37,049 --> 01:25:39,092
Frickin' awesome.

2007
01:25:39,176 --> 01:25:40,844
<i>‐ ♪ I'm just a sexy boy</i>

2008
01:25:40,969 --> 01:25:43,347
<i>♪ Sexy boy</i>

2009
01:25:43,430 --> 01:25:48,477
Oh, goodness gracious!
That is good stuff.



