World Wrestling Federation superstar Shawn Michaels was recovering at a San Antonio hospital late Tuesday after undergoing four hours of back surgery.
Surgeons fused the wrestler's fourth and fifth vertebrae, said Clyde McCormick, Michaels' attorney.
"It was very difficult and it took a lot longer than we expected, but he's doing very well," said Dr. Pablo Vasquez, who with Dr. Thomas Kingman operated on Michaels.
The popular wrestler was resting comfortably and will probably leave the hospital this weekend, Vasquez said.
Michaels, 33, known as "The Heartbreak Kid," received a serious back injury last year when The Undertaker tossed him through a table during a match.
He won the WWF's championship in 1996, and lost it a few months later to Sycho Sid after Sid decked him with a TV camera.
To his fans' delight, Michaels regained the championship in January 1997 after a grueling, 17-minute grudge match at the Alamodome.
Last week, the San Antonio native announced his retirement but said he would continue to work as a WWF commissioner and with community groups.
He also says he plans to open a wrestling school in San Antonio with local wrestling legend José "Super Sock" Lothario.
Vasquez said any return to the ring by Michaels "would put too much pressure on the remaining disks."