Remembering Shawn Micheals’s darkest days in pro wrestling that led to the complete gentrification of his career and character in the WWE.
In 1995, a fast emerging superstar who had a promising future in the WWE found himself in a predicament that brought WWE to shame. Shawn Micheals was a prominent member of the Kliq who wasn’t the biggest but the man had enough charisma to carry the weight of the struggling company on his shoulders.
During this time, Micheals had a black cloud over his head as he was known to drown his sorrows by overindulging. The way Micheals was headed, the writing was on the wall. On October 13, 1995, Shawn along with Sean Waltman and The British Bulldog checked into Motel 8 in Syracuse following an event in Binghamton.
The trio halted at the late-night Haunt club to party before the next night’s live event that was going to be held in Syracuse. The party began and the three men had quite a few to drink. Shawn spotted a pretty girl on the dance floor that instantly attracted his attention.
At 30, Shawn was famous for being a serial skirt chaser. Soon, Micheals started making advances on the girl which a young marine didn’t look kindly on. The young soldier was supposedly dating the girl. The attention that the wrestlers received at the bar meant imminent bad news.
Micheals was warned by the irate marine to stop pursuing the girl to which Micheals paid absolutely no heed. Shawn continued with his banter and even invited the young girl to his hotel room. The club bouncer Tony Alberti predicted that things were on the verge of going south and immediately asked his girlfriend “Donna” to escort the wrestlers out of the club.
At this point, Micheals had lost his senses as he had imbibed too much. Shawn was dragged by The British Bulldog and Donna’s brother to a two-door Pontiac Sunbird and laid down in the passenger seat of the car.
The Marine boy along with his two other buddies was biding their time in the parking lot. On seeing the wrestlers with Donna, the soldiers began ranting and calling the wrestlers condescending names. Bulldog had heard enough and immediately smacked the serviceman’s head from his middle seat.
Reportedly, Micheals delivered a weak blow of his own to the prime soldier. The soldier immediately retaliated with an answer by yanking Micheals’s lifeless body out of the car and slamming the door on his head. This resulted in a complete commotion as all three marines rendered Micheals a beating that laid him out cold on the floor.
Sean Waltman and Bulldog were powerless as their escape from the car in attempts to come to Shawn’s aid was a wasteful effort as their doors were forced shut by the other two men. The beating ensued and Micheals was later rushed to a hospital. He suffered two black eyes, torn eyelids, and minor lacerations on his face.
The Aftermath
Micheals’s memory of the night was completely hazy. Vince on the other hand went ballistic. Vince hated the fact that his wrestlers engaged in a bar fight and were on the losing end. Jim Ross on Grilling JR said, “The philosophy of a pro wrestler losing to a civilian in a fist fight is unacceptable.”
Micheals was seen on the show wearing the battle scars on his face. However, the WWE universe was told a different story. The entire story was twisted and embellished and made a storyline to amass sympathy for Shawn Micheals.
Ultimately, Shawn Micheals was booked to win the 1996 Royal Rumble and then went ahead to win his first-ever WWF Championship at WrestleMania XII. In the wake of this tragedy, Ironically, WWE was galvanized by the tragic event into turning Micheals’s career into gold.
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