Recap of Shawn Michaels on "Off The Record"
By John C. of The Wrestling Oratory
London, Ontario

Shawn Michaels was on Off The Record on TSN earlier tonight. It aired at 8:30pm just before Raw. This interview was taped when WWE was in Toronto late in February.

The host, Michael Landsberg, thanks Shawn for coming. It's his first time on the show. He compares Shawn to other OTR legends like Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, Bret Hart and more. Shawn is flattered to be put into that group.

Landsberg asks him why he decided to come back to be an active wrestler. Shawn says he had no intention to wrestle when he first came back. He just returned to WWE TV to play a role on the television show. His doctors still tell him to stay out of the ring, but he says he never listened to them a lot anyway. He had no intention to wrestle, but after Nash got hurt he felt he received a message from the Lord to return to the ring. His mind started coming up with wrestling ideas again. They show the spot at Summerslam where he put HHH through the table after jumping off the top rope. He says the Lord told him to come back, but that crazy bump was his idea.

He's been a born again Christian since April 2002. He says he's a lot different than he was a year ago.

Looking back what did he think about HBK before? Immature. He says he was a pain in the ass, but it was his passion. He couldn't control it. He was obsessed with being the best. His life was wrestling 24/7. For whatever reason he couldn't find happiness when he was wrestling. Even when he was at the top he wasn't really happy with his life until he found God.

He "stepped" on people when he was at the top. Landsberg asks for names, but he refuses to name anybody. HBK says he wasn't professional, did stupid things and made bad decisions. He said he acted the same way when he was lower on the card too.

Commercial.

When Landsberg asks him if he's concerned with how people view him Shawn says that he doesn't really care. He tries to live his life as best as he can.

Bret Hart time. Landsberg shows a clip of Bret Hart from when he was on OTR a few months ago. Bret says that Shawn is, "a two faced lying chickenshit. He doesn't change his stripes." He goes on to say that he acts nice to you in your face, but he'll stab you in the back when you aren't around. Shawn says that's not a fair comment.

Shawn says that the difference between him and Bret is that he has taken responsibility for his part while Bret has not. He agrees that he was difficult, but he feels that Bret's comment were a bit much. He thinks Bret needs to let it go.

About Survivor Series '97 in Montreal he says he knew everything. He was told by Vince not to say anything and deny everything. He spoke the truth on Confidential late last year even though he didn't get Vince's permission to say it. He just told everybody what happened and it would be up to management to decide if they wanted to show it. As we all know, they showed it. He also points out that every interview he conducts seems to ask him about that event.

When Landsberg asks him if he would do it again today Shawn says, "I don't know." He says he probably would because he listens to his boss. He compared it to the mafia and how The Don gives the order while somebody else does the hit. He says Bret didn't listen to Vince and that's why he got screwed.

He claims that he argued with Vince a lot. He didn't get his way all the time the way most people think. Says that Vince asked him to work with him, but he refused because he felt that Bret wasn't supportive of him. I'm guessing this was around the time of WrestleMania 13.

He says that the rumors of him not wanting to job to people are false. He did what Vince asked him to do. He suggests that you ask Vince about. He tells Michael to ask Vince specifically, "Did Shawn refuse to job?" and see what Vince says. According to Shawn, everybody thinks they know, but you have to ask Vince.

Commercial.

Next topic was The Clique, specifically Triple H, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. He says he sees Triple H every Monday, talks to Kevin once in a while and hasn't talked to Scott lately. When Landsberg asks if it's hard to have good friends in a cutthroat business like wrestling Shawn says that for him it wasn't. He thinks the "power of the Clique" was overblown. He claims that the four of them lived for wrestling and that's all they talked about on the road together.

Landsberg asks if he gives HHH any advice. Shawn says it's tough for him because he thinks HHH knows what he's doing. He said that he'd tell HHH when he gets married that he needs to focus on that. No mention of Stephanie, though.
What are the most days that he's worked in one year? 289. He never said the year.

When asked if he'd make it to the top if he had found God back then. He says he doesn't know. It's tough to say. Thinks that he was very selfish 15 years ago, but the Lord, his wife and his son have changed priorities for him.

As they go to the last commercial, Landsberg comments on how surprised he is to hear Shawn be so candid.

Back from the break, Landsberg asks about WrestleMania. He asks Shawn when his first Mania was. He says 4 or 5. It was actually 5 when The Rockers lost to the Twin Towers. He says WrestleMania 12 is his highlight.

Landsberg thinks him and Bret missed out on something special because of their rocky relationship. Shawn says that despite their differences he loved to wrestle Bret. Says they always liked working together. They shared a mutual admiration for their work in the ring.

Landsberg asks him if he'd be willing to talk to Bret. Shawn says sure. He'd love to do it on his show. Landsberg jokes that they may need helmets for that. Shawn says that he would ask Bret to forgive him if they met up face to face. He says he wants to bury the hatchet and move on. Says Bret looks unhealthy because he has all this pent up frustration inside of him.

Name association time.

Ric Flair - The Greatest. He's his biggest fan. They only wrestled once for five minutes when he was still young. Wishes they could have wrestled in their prime, or close to it.

Marty Jannetty - Misses him. He's called him lately.

Vader - "Like a cuddly bear. Pretty nifty guy."

Sid - Always worked well with him. Heard others complain about him, but he enjoyed their matches.

Curt Hennig - Gifted guy. It's a tragedy that he's gone.

Landsberg thanks him for coming and that's it.

Overall, I'd say the interview was very good. One of the better wrestler interviews on Off the Record. Shawn was open, honest and candid. He also seems a lot more humble than he was before he became a born again Christian. It will be interesting to see if the face to face interview with Bret Hart ever happens.


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