If you conjure up a picture of the Attitude Era in your mind, it goes without saying that The Rock and Shawn Michaels will be at the front and center of that picture. Although the two wrestling legends have never had a match, it was once a dream match in the making, however, due to the real-life heat between the two athletes, the match never materialized. Before the onset of the Attitude Era, Shawn Michaels was a well-established talent. It’s safe to bet that HBK was one of Vince McMahon’s favorites. During this time, The Great One was not so great, as he was an up-and-coming wrestler.
According to rumors, Shawn Michaels had a little creative control, and he reportedly yielded his power to sabotage the career of The Rock. However, Michaels’ holding the grudge against The Rock did not faze the latter from excelling and carving out a legendary career in years to come. Recently, on the Rock’s TV show “Young Rock”, there was an indirect reference made to Chad Frost, a stand-in for Michaels’ character, who tried everything in his power to stall the success of The Rock.
The rift between Shawn Michaels and The Rock
The real-life animosity between the two wrestling veterans stems from back in the day, when The Rock was still a teenager and Shawn Michaels was working a match for The Rock’s maternal grandmother’s promotion in Hawaii. During the show, HBK reportedly made a derogatory remark about The Rock’s grandmother that infuriated The Rock.
Sources revealed that after the People’s Champ debuted in WWE, Shawn Michaels and Triple H tried to jeopardize the Great One’s career by badmouthing him to Vince McMahon out of spite. However, Vince paid no credence to Michaels and The Rock became a megastar.
In 1997, Shawn Michaels was the WWF Champion, Vince Mcmahon was still a commentator, Austin era had yet to begin.
Let’s watch the dawn of Attitude Era from here. pic.twitter.com/CZ2M2rx05C
— Chang Ee (@bok94bitw) January 28, 2022
World Wrestling Federation – Attitude Era. This is The Rock that we know. pic.twitter.com/R6QJ7Ya1rd
— Ricardo Schtieg Mokwena (@RicardoSchtieg) January 11, 2023
In 2000, during a segment between The Rock and Triple h, HBK caught the Rock with a stiff superkick. It’s worth noting that Shawn Michaels was on a hiatus during this time. Unhappy with the stiff kick, the Rock confronted HBK backstage, where the latter reportedly told him that if he could not “handle” a kick, he has no business being in the industry.
This led to a scuffle between the two. The Rock pinned Shawn Michael down before people interfered and broke it up. According to WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart’s autobiography, Michaels implored Vince McMahon to have The Rock lose the IC Championship to Bret Hart. But Hart refused to win the match and requested a win through DQ.
Why did the dream match between The Rock and Shawn Michaels never take place?
During the peak of The Rock’s career in the mid-Attitude Era, Shawn Michaels was battling personal demons and dealing with a grave lower back injury. This led to Michaels announcing his retirement from wrestling in 1998.
However, HBK made a groundbreaking comeback in 2002 but at the time, The Rock was a part-timer and was on his way out from the business to pursue his Hollywood career. In an interview, wrestling legend Chris Jericho revealed that after Michaels made his return, the company tried to push a storyline between The Rock and Michaels, but The Brahma Bull turned it down.
The Rock, Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels https://t.co/MHgt5wsOQb
— Dec 27th ♑️ (@TheRealJWILL1) April 7, 2020
Today, Both men have mended the fences and they are finally on good terms. Unfortunately, fans never got the chance to witness the real-life heat between the two of the greatest wrestlers of all time due to their heated past. But thankfully, The Rock and HBK realized that life is too short for keeping grudges.
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