10 wrestlers who have genuinely hated Shawn Michaels at some point

Undertaker and Shawn MichaelsShawn Michaels is one of the greatest performers in WWE history, period. He has been the cornerstone of some excellent matches and segments throughout his career but when it came to his personal life, it was a contrasting story.Also read: Top 5 WWE wrestlers who sang their own theme songsHis personal life could easily be split into two. Shawn was a complete jerk in the first part and became a born-again Christian in the second. It might sound like a cheesy Hollywood film, but it’s the reality. Despite the way Michaels changed in the latter part of his life, he attracted a lot of hate from his peers. The list takes a look at some of those wrestlers who had legitimate heat with Shawn Michaels at one point or the other.

#10 Shane Douglas

It was Shane Douglas’ promo that kick-started the Extreme Championship Wrestling. Although it was a historic milestone in professional wrestling history, Shane never managed to capitalize on the same and ended up being an average star in the business. He has had numerous personal feuds throughout his life and the grudge he had with Shawn Michaels was the most notable.

During a tour in Germany, Shawn Michaels threatened Shane in the locker-room. Shawn was going to ‘embarrass’ Shane inside the ring and when Shane complained about the same to Davey Boy Smith, the match was changed. Later, Razor Ramon took away the Intercontinental Championship from Shane showing the influence that Kliq had in the company.

#9 Jim Cornette

Jim Cornette is still considered as a wrestling genius in the business. The microphone and managerial skills that he possesses made him stand out from the rest. One another thing that Jim Cornette was known for is his Shoot Videos. He has plenty of them in YouTube and while some of them are funny, others are plain insults.

And when it comes to his opinion about Shawn Michaels, Cornette holds nothing back. He is yet to point out a particular incident that made him hate Michaels, but he definitely hates the Heart Break Kid. The arrogance and brash attitude of Michaels could have been the reason since Cornette was in the WWE during the first part of Michaels’ life.

#8 Hulk Hogan

In 2005, WWE had this great idea of pitting Shawn Michaels against Hulk Hogan. Both Michaels and Hogan were legendary names in the business and a match between these two was sure to attract eyeballs. The match was scheduled to take place at SummerSlam and when Michaels heard about the same, he expected a respectful contest where both superstars would get enough time to shine.

Hogan, on the other hand, had other ideas. Hogan wanted Shawn to play a full blown heel so that he would be projected as the Hero who triumphed. Shawn was obviously not impressed and oversold throughout the match. Things worsened when Michaels came out the next day on Raw and pulled a sarcastic promo against Hogan. Hulkster was apparently offended by the same and the feud was called off.

#7 Chris Candido

Chris Candido is not a name that will ring many bells. He spent time in ECW, WCW, WWE and TNA but failed to make a name for himself. Most of the fans would recognize Candido as the ex-boyfriend of Sunny. And it was Sunny that ended up being the reason for Candido hating on Shawn Michaels.

Michaels reportedly had an affair with Sunny. Everyone involved with the rumor denied the same but after the abrupt death of Candido, Bam Bam Bigelow came out and said that Candido was heartbroken. Bigelow pointed out that Candido even considered suicide due to the reported affair and the ribbing of Kliq. We will never get to know the truth, but Candido had enough reasons to hate Michaels.

#6 Bam Bam Bigelow

Being a close friend of Chris Candido, Bam Bam Bigelow had all the reasons to hate Shawn Michaels. But apart from the Candido issue, Bigelow had some legitimate heat with Kliq. There are videos in the YouTube where he rips the backstage group. He points out how the group toyed with the livelihood of wrestlers in the company.

This was another example of how hated Shawn Michaels was during the first part of his career. Unfortunately for Michaels, Bam Bam Bigelow passed away untimely and never gave Shawn the opportunity to bury the hatchet publically, and that is a life lesson for every human being out there.

#5 The Hurricane

Hurricane is one of those rare guys who hated Shawn Michaels for the second part of his life. The real life Shane Helms said that Michaels is not religious. Shane apparently witnessed a lot of negatives from the born-again Christian and was not going to be silent about the same.

He also accused Shawn of trying to undercut talents like Mr. Kennedy in the WWE. Shane was not able to produce any evidence for the comments he made about Michaels and it might or might not be true. However, one thing is for sure, Shane Helms does not like Shawn Michaels and that’s the bottom line.

#4 Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle is the last person in the world you would want a grudge with. The guy is a legitimate athlete and could break your ankle just for fun. Shawn Michaels learned this the hard way. According to former WWE writer Alex Greenfield, Michaels and Angle had a backstage brawl in 2005 which ended in Angle getting the better of Michaels.

Michaels apparently confronted Angle for being too stiff in the ring and it led to a full-blown brawl between the two. Another source claimed that Michaels would constantly complain to Vince McMahon about Kurt Angle which in turn landed Kurt in trouble. The current status of the friction between Michaels and Angle is still unknown and it could go either way.

#3 Undertaker

The pairing of Shawn Michaels and Undertaker has given us a lot to remember. The matches they had at WrestleMania 25 and 26 were instant classics and the latter proved to be the last match of Shawn as well. But before the sunshine and rainbows, Undertaker and Shawn had some friction between them.

While Shawn was the leader of the infamous Kliq, Undertaker had his own gang backstage known as the Bone Street Krewe (BSK). These two groups were natural rivals backstage and this led to some confrontations. Back at WrestleMania XIV, things came to a head when it was unsure if HBK would do what’s right for business and drop the title to Steve Austin. Undertaker, who came to know about this, threatened Michaels and made sure that the match went on as planned.

The relationship was later patched up, but these two clearly had friction in between them during the good old days.

#2 The Rock

Unlike most of the superstars in this list, Rock’s dislike of Shawn Michaels started before his WWE career. Michaels reportedly disrespected Rock’s grandmother once and the young Dwayne Johnson was not impressed with the same. This friction then went to another level when Rock joined the WWE.

Shawn Michaels and his band of friends did everything in their power to drag Dwayne down, but it was not enough. The two legends apparently buried their hatchet later, but the friction they had could have led to one of the most personal feuds in WWE history. Even today, fans would die to see a pay-per-view match between Rock and Shawn Michaels.

#1 Bret Hart

None of the wrestling fans out there would be surprised with the inclusion of Bret Hart in this list. The feud that Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels had was nothing short of legendary. They had memorable segments and matches, but most of them were fuelled by personal rivalry. If I was to say about all the incidents that Bret and Michaels had backstage, I would need a new list because these two guys hated each other that much.

The most notable incident from the lot has to be the Montreal Screwjob. Michaels initially claimed that he had nothing to do with what Vince McMahon did, but Bret had a tough time believing what Shawn said. Bret and Shawn later patched up and have a friendly relationship right now.

One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE