Michael Shawn Hickenbottom

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name, Shawn Michaels, is an American professional wrestlingpersonality, television presenter and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he has served as an ambassador for the company since December 2010, but also a special referee. Michaels consistently wrestled for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998, owing to a severe back injury. He appeared in non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2000 and resumed his wrestling career in 2002 until retiring ceremoniously in 2010. In the WWF/WWE, Michaels headlined major pay-per-view events in four decades from the 1980s to the 2010s, closing the company's premier annual event WrestleMania on five occasions. Michaels also hosts the show MacMillan River Adventures, airing on the Outdoor Channel.

Michaels began his wrestling career with Mid-South Wrestling and the American Wrestling Association (AWA). During his time with AWA, he formed a tag team with Marty Jannetty known as The Midnight Rockers, winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice. Hickenbottom and Jannetty briefly signed with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1987, while under contract with AWA. They returned to AWA, only to return to the WWF in 1988. After the dissolution of the Rockers in late 1991, Michaels began working as a singles performer under the new gimmick of "The Heartbreak Kid", first as a villain and later as a fan favorite. He exerted considerable influence on booking decisions as part of a locker room faction known informally as The Kliq.

In 1997, Michaels teamed up with Triple H, Chyna, and Rick Rude to form the stable D-Generation X (DX). That same year, Michaels took part in one of the most controversial matches in wrestling history, dubbed the "Montreal Screwjob." After a back injury sustained at the 1998 Royal Rumble forced him to retire following his WWF Championship loss at WrestleMania XIV, Michaels opened a wrestling training academy, called The Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy. He made his in-ring return at SummerSlam in 2002. In 2006, Michaels and Triple H briefly reformed DX, but after an injury that Triple H sustained, Michaels returned to singles wrestling. In 2009, the duo reunited as a tag team, with the two capturing the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. Michaels retired from professional wrestling once more after WrestleMania XXVI in 2010. In December 2010, he signed a long-term deal with WWE, making his first live appearance at a WWE show since WrestleMania later that month.

Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011. Following his induction, WWE said of Michaels, "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."^[2] Michaels is a four-timeworld champion: a three-time WWF Champion and a former World Heavyweight Champion. He was also the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles and was the company's first Grand Slam Champion. He has also won the PWI Match of the Year Award a record eleven times. Michaels currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife, Rebecca, and their two children.