"At Wrestlemania XIV, which was held on March 28 1998, at the Fleet Centre in Boston, I won my first WWE title by defeating Shawn Michaels. A very talented wrestler, Shawn Michaels was another of my favourite guys to work with. But the Heartbreak Kid was pretty beat up at that point. He had some back problems, I remember, and the match wasnt as good as it could have been.Also it seemed like he had a real chip on his shoulder for some reason. I don't know why that was. Shawn was very egotistical, and it was true that he had been a big success, but he seemed arrogant.I always had great matches with him and got along with him, but it wasn't like we hung out together. We weren't buddies. But I learned a lot from him. He was quite a hand.
My relationship with Shawn is a lot better now than it used to be. It's not that he's gone through any real changes, but because it's a different day and age. We're a lot closer friends than we were back then.Shawn had a lot of issues back then, before Wrestlemania XIV. He had a lot of demons. He was burning the candle on both ends and wasn't exactly feeling like a million bucks. Man, do I know that feeling.
And then Wham! I came along, Stone Cold Steve Austin, getting white hot and breathing down everybody's neck. I think that was unsettling to him. I think that adversly affected him. He was asked to drop the title belt to me, and at the time I don't think he really wanted to do it.
If it had been anybody else other than me, he probably wouldn't have done it. But he did it for me. The match wasn't a classic by any stretch, but I did appreciate Shawn Michaels's ability and his timing, which were always impeccable."