HBK After 1998
When HBK Shawn Michaels lost the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XIV in Boston to Stone Cold Steve Austin, he was forced into in-ring retirment. This was due to the severe back injury that he sustained during his Royal Rumble 1998 Casket Match Title Defense against the Undertaker.
After being shelved, he returned to the company as the commissioner late that year. On January 12, 1999, Michaels underwent life-threatening back surgery. His role as commissioner included influential highlights in the title. For example, HBK reversed the WrestleMania XV Main-Event from being a WWE Champion The Rock-1999 Royal Rumble Winner Vince McMahon Title Match to a Rock-Austin Title Match. Michaels also served as the Special Guest Referee in the HHH-Rock Ironman Match at Judgment Day 2000. The night after on Raw, HBK resigned and was replaced by Mick Foley.
HBK After the Old WWF
After his 2000 resignation, no one saw the Heartbreak Kid for a long time. As 2002 kicked in, HBK began to re-appear in the radar screens again by appearing at WWF New York in the night of the Royal Rumble. By this time, WCW Talents were still infesting WWE - the aftermath of that melee that the two organization had that WWE won. On June 3, 2002 in Dallas, nWo Member Kevin Nash came out to the ring. He said, "There's a new member to the nWo, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the new member to the nWo." After this statement, a familiar tune hit - the vintage Sexy Boy Theme Music. Mixed reactions emanated from the huge crowd and Dallas, cheers and jeers were shared. Cheers because the legend was back, jeers because he was joining the nWo. HBK was a big-time force in the nWo even though it soon folded.
HBK After the nWo
At Vengeance 2002, HBK entered the ring and confronted his longtime friend Triple H. The two reuinted that night and on the next night on Raw, D-Generation-X came back in their colors. However, it was a night of backstabbing for HBK. While celebrating their unison, Triple H beat Michaels and signified that the old days are gone. DX is no longer and as far as HBK goes, he doesn't give a damn. Michaels also suffered an even more brutal backstage attack, an attack that Triple H kindly admitted.
Revenge
This attack set The Game too far and the stage was set to even the score. August 25, 2002, Summerslam, the confrontation between HBK Shawn Michaels and Triple H. This match was a Street Fight, a Non-Sanctioned one. In a brutal and first-ever encounter, a huge upset came. After four years of being shelved, the Heartbreak Kid defeated a fresh Triple H by pin to even his score. When everybody thought that things couldn't get more brutal after the use of tables, chairs, and ladders, it did. Triple H, embarassed by getting beaten by Shawn Michaels hit Michaels several times in the back with a sledgehammer. This beating sent Michaels too far that he had to be wheeled out of the arena on a stretcher. No one saw the Heartbreak Kid again while Triple H was having the time of his life after being handed the World Title by Eric Bischoff. Weeks prior to Survivor Series, HBK returned and laid it down plain and simple, "Count me in at Survivor Series."
Back on Top
When HBK said that he was entering Eric Bischoff's Elimination Chamber Match for the World Title, it meant that he would now be defying doctors' orders, it means that he would now have to return to the ringon a regular basis should he win and that was the exact thing that happened. At Madison Square Garden in New York, the unthinkable happened, the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels was able to upend 5 other top Raw Wrestlers and gain the biggest prize in the sport. The Showstoppa was back, even if he was bloodied and battered, Michaels was able to top it of in one second when he smacked Hunter's face with his boot. The Game retaliated one month later when he regained the World Title at Armageddon in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match.
Going without Gold
Michaels is now back in the ring, period. We would be hearing Sexy Boy Theme on a weekly basis, we would be seeing wrestlers getting their jas dislocated with Sweet Chin Music every week too. For Michaels, it doesn't matter if it is a house show, a televised show, Survivor Series, Raw, Backlash, Summerslam or WrestleMania; he always gives the fans a stellar performance that would be treated as best. It doesn't matter if it's Evolution, Benoit, Jericho, or Kane he has to deal with, there's always a way out for a man, and Michaels knows it.