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Shawn Michaels is one of the few wrestlers who was 'red-hot' during WWE's Attitude Era. Michaels had made his debut a decade before the infamous 'era,' and though he was a major part of the golden age of wrestling, he quickly gauged what the audience wanted, and thrived in the Attitude Era as well.
Several wrestlers down the line have had a similar body type and wrestling style as the Heartbreak Kid, including Dolph Ziggler. However, wrestling fans have thought about Shawn Michaels and current AEW star Rob Van Dam, as following the same train of wrestling moves.
In an interview with The Dead Joker taped years ago - 13 years ago to be exact, Shawn Michaels share his thoughts on Rob Van Dam's fighting style.
"I like him. I like his stuff. The only thing that's keeping him from going to the bigs and being a veteran... He's got to make what he does mean more and just slow down a tad. He's doing so well, it's starting to look like poor choreography." [H/T The Dead Joker]
Check out the video:
WWE star has confirmed he tries to imitate Rob Van Dam's fighting style, reminiscent of Shawn Michaels
Fans consider Rob Van Dam's tenure at ECW as his most exhilarating. He gained the fans' attention with his high-flying moves and innovative offense. RVD managed to mix these moves with the extreme wrestling violence that was rampant in the ECW.
Ricochet, a wrestler on the current WWE roster, has confessed that he tries to imitate the fighting style of Rob Van Dam among others. Ricochet is just one of the current wrestlers who's has had a successful high-flying wrestling stint.
In some rare instances, even big wrestlers like The Undertaker, with whom Michaels has had a match for the ages, go high-flying over the top rope to beat down their opponents. With either a suicide dive from between the ropes or a suplex off the top rope, all aiming to garner a huge pop from the audience.
Other names that come to mind are AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, Gail Kim and the Swanton Bomb GOAT, Jeff Hardy.
The high-flying style of wrestling is pretty difficult to master and work in, but it does give the audience some memorable moments, and the wrestler creates a niche for themselves in the world of wrestling.
What do you think about high-flying wrestlers? Tell us in the comments section below.
