10 WWE superstars who benefitted from controversy

#2 Shawn Michaels

Michaels has ruffled many feathers over the decades...

Shawn Michaels was an instrumental figure in WWE pushing its programming in a more adult-oriented direction. Through his D-Generation X stable and increasingly raunchy storylines and promos, Michaels became a magnet for heat both from fans and from outside observers criticizing WWE for its content.

But Shawn benefitted immensely from this creative direction, as WWE became the more popular wrestling brand with its adult-oriented themes and crass humour. These things allowed Shawn – and by extension, the whole of WWE – to gain a major advantage over WCW, whose management was taking that promotion in the opposite direction at the time.

Shawn also became a reviled character in Canada following the Montreal Screwjob, and he took advantage of those controversial circumstances to draw more heat towards himself, which in turn led to greater interest in Shawn’s feuds going forward.