Shawn Michaels

Stats

• Height: 6’1”
• Weight: 225 pounds
• From: San Antonio, TX
• Career Highlights: WWE Champion; World Heavyweight Champion; Intercontinental Champion; European Champion; World Tag Team Champion; Royal Rumble winner (1995 & 1996); WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2011

Signature Moves

Diving Elbow Drop 4

Dive vs. grounded opponent

Sharpshooter

Grounded opponent near lower body

Finishers

Sweet Chin Music

Corner vs. grounded opponent or catch

Super Kick 2

Standing front, running, Irish whip rebound or catch

TEXAS PILEDRIVER (ALTERNATE)

Standing front

Attributes

• Strike Power: 80
• Grapple Power: 75
• Submission: 85
• Strike Defense: 95
• Grapple Defense: 95
• Speed: 95
• Jump: 90
• Agility: 85
• Adrenaline: 95
• Recovery: 100
• Toughness: 80
• Durability: 85
• Charisma: 95
• Tag Team: 90
• Overall: 95

Abilities

• Comeback
• Outside Dives
• Springboard Dives
• Leverage Pin

WWE Bio

Ask any Superstar on the WWE roster who the most gifted sports-entertainer of all time is and nearly everyone will have the same answer—Shawn Michaels. A cocky, confident heartbreaker from San Antonio, Texas, HBK started off his career as one-half of The Rockers and ended it in a classic match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI . Along the way, he won every major WWE title, two Royal Rumbles , entry into the WWE Hall of Fame and a reputation as The Icon, The Showstopper, The Main Event. His days in the ring weren’t always glorious, though. After charming crowds as a Rocker in the ’90s, HBK infamously severed his partnership with Marty Jannetty by smashing his friend’s head through a window. And the notorious “Montreal Screwjob” of the 1997 Survivor Series involving his greatest rival, Bret “Hit Man” Hart, could have killed a lesser Superstar’s career. Instead, it only added to the allure of one of sports-entertainment’s most captivatingly flawed figures. A rebel in leather chaps, Michaels bucked authority and surrounded himself with people who did the same. As the troublemaker behind DX, HBK made life a living hell for the McMahon family alongside his longtime running buddy Triple H. As a member of The Kliq, he did the same for the WWE locker room, carefully wielding his considerable influence to get the best treatment for himself and friends like Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The self-proclaimed “Sexy Boy” could be an unrepentant prima donna, but he was so fluid and brilliant in the ring that it hardly mattered. His Ladder Match with Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X established his reputation for having the best bout on The Grandest Stage of Them All—a tradition he’d continue in classics against Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and The Undertaker. HBK’s thrilling run was nearly brought to an early end when a back injury put him out for more than four years. In that time, he fell in love, had children, found religion. When he finally returned, Michaels displayed none of the flaws that plague many Superstars in their final years in the ring. Instead, The Icon continued to have career-defining matches right up until his last stand against The Phenom at WrestleMania XXVI . Although it was one of the final times WWE fans would hear the crack of Sweet Chin Music, audiences did not mourn HBK’s retirement. Instead, they celebrated it, grateful to have witnessed the evolution of Shawn Michaels from high-flying Rocker to sports-entertainment immortal.

Breakdown

Rated a 95 Overall and with a deep move-set, one could make an argument that Shawn Michaels is perhaps the toughest Superstar to beat in the game. Even though he’s not the most powerful Superstar he’s got six attributes rated 95 or above and a host of great abilities, including Comeback, that allow him to launch attacks from anywhere. Use his speed against the larger, plodding opponents and slow the quick guys down with running grapples. He the highest-rated defensively in the game, so reverse everything and push the action. If you ever end up on the ceiling of the Hell in a Cell Match, press grapple to use his Sweet Chin Music kick to launch your opponent off and down to the concrete. Great fun!

Taunt Times