Well first of all I would like to thank the mayor, the Boys and Girls Club, the city of Fresno, the wonderful press, and the World Wrestling Federation for having me. The last several months for Shawn Michaels have been anything but fun. But at least in the world of the World Wrestling Federation, my personal life has made for great television viewing.
It all started at a night club in Syracuse, NY in October when I was beaten senseless by nine individuals who I guess did just not like the way that Shawn Michaels carried himself. From that time there have been a number of people that because of the business that I am in, doubt that that incident ever took place. For the doubters out there, I have a couple of new scars on my face and a man arrested in Syracuse NY, which should prove to everyone that it did indeed happen. It was an unfortunate event for me and of course the World Wrestling Federation.
From that point I had to go to Winnepeg, Manitoba and at an In Your House Pay-Per-View, I had to give up my WWF Intercontinental Championship title which was the championship belt that I had obtained several months earlier. But because of the incidents in Syracuse, I could not defend that title. That for me was the first time that I ever had to give up something that I had to work night and day for, for a long time. That's when things got a little emotional, again for the first time for me in this business. From that point, I let my ego take over and tried to get back into the ring against the advice of doctors, friends and family. That also proved to be a mistake - but anyone that knows Shawn Michaels knows that if mistakes were made, he's going to be the guy who makes them. And at least hopefully in the long run he will learn from these mistakes.
At the Survivor Series I once again took another rubbing - this time by the superstars of the WWF. Something that the fans of the WWF have come to get used to. It was not that big of a deal. Then the next night on Monday Night Raw I was performing against Owen Hart and I collapsed in the ring on live TV and all I remember is being escorted off to the hospital. From that point the doctors and again friends and family all had decided that the best thing for me to do was to stop listening to my ego and start listening to people who knew a little bit more than me - which in my case is just about every - body around me. At that point, for the first time, my personal well being actually became a serious concern to me. Anyone that knows me knows that I have always placed my career above everything else. I am driven by something that many athletes are driven by, that a lot of people can't understand. But for me this is something that I have wanted to do since I was a very small boy. And the thought of not being able to do it was something that I had never experienced before.
The WWF and the fans of the WWF came to me at this time again in a way that completely caught me off guard. For 8 years I've been working day and night in the WWF to become the biggest star in it's history. The week after my 19th birthday I went on the road and left my parents house to pursue this life that I was certain I was destined to be the best at. In that time I have gone up and down the road, paid my dues and finally gotten to a point where I thought that all my dreams and wishes were going to be fulfilled by me. In light of what has been going on in my life over the past several months, all this has become a question. The injuries that I sustained were much more serious than I knew about and as time went on I realized that this being slow and bumping into things was not Shawn Michaels. Not the Shawn that I knew. And the concern in my mind was: Would I ever be the man that I was before ? I know that that sounds very melodramatic, but when you've gone through your career as I have, to not feel totally confident, to not feel on top of my game, to not feel like I was so much better than everybody else, for me was a standard that I couldn't accept: A standard that I wasn't used to.
And again through the advice of friends and family, Vince McMahon and all the people that are close to me in my life, I have come to a decision. And of course, that is obviously why I am here today. As far as my health over the last several weeks, I feel better. I've gone back for tests and there doesn't seem to be any noticable changes but still my doctors and the people around me think it would be best that I no longer compete in the World Wrestling Federation or in the sport at all. But ultimately the decision is mine. And again I am talking to the people that know the World Wrestling Federation and Shawn. There has never, ever been anything in my life that means more to me, with the exception of my family and my friends, than achieving the goal that I set for myself when I was a very small boy. So many kids sit at home and want to become policmen, firemen, doctors and lawyers. Shawn sat at home and wanted to be a WWF superstar. And as he grew older, wanted to be the greatest sports entertainer that the World Wrestling Federation and the sport had ever seen.
I feel on one hand that I have achieved all that. But as far as my sport - I'll never be recognized by anyone until I become the WWF champion and that of course is the one goal that Shawn Michaels has never achieved here in the World Wrestling Federation. The big question is: Is that something that I can accept and walk away - or is the ego of Shawn Michaels so big, and as a man is he so proud that he can't leave it behind ? And at the risk of possibly more injuries - stay around the WWF to achieve his goals ? Well, the answer to the question is: I have goals and I have dreams and I don't know if I could live with myself or with people around me if I didn't do the one thing that I know is important to me. The one thing that I know that I'm really good at. So I have to apologize to my friends, my family, and my doctors but Shawn Michaels has a destiny in the World Wrestling Federation and it's going to be the WWF Championship. And to do that, superstars have to stand in line and wait. I've worked too long and too hard to stand in line.
Shawn Michaels at this time is throwing his name into the many names that will be competing at the Royal Rumble in Fresno, CA. In one night, I will do what I did last year and that is go through every superstar in the WWF. And come Wrestlemania, regardless of who's wearing the WWF belt he will be facing the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania and giving his title to the next man who will carry the WWF on his shoulders into the millenium. And folks ... that's me !