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Shawn Michaels purposely tried to sabotage his WWE SummerSlam 2005 match against Hulk Hogan, according to Eric Bischoff.
Hogan, aged 52 at the time, defeated Michaels in a 21-minute match. The first-time-ever contest is best remembered for The Heartbreak Kid overselling his opponent's moves. Many believe Michaels, then aged 40, deliberately made the match comical because he wanted Hogan to look bad.
Bischoff, the on-screen RAW General Manager at the time, discussed the controversial bout on his 83 Weeks podcast:
"I lost all respect for Shawn Michaels. It was pretty clear. There was an issue between Hulk and Shawn Michaels. There was a lack of respect, I think, there, perhaps some jealousy on Shawn's part that, 'Here's this Hulk Hogan. He's still here. He's still the guy.' I don't know. I wasn't close to Shawn at that point." [1:16:29 – 1:16:56]
In Bischoff's opinion, Michaels was wrong to make Hogan look foolish in the main event of a major show. He believes the D-Generation X member should have dealt with any issues he had with Hogan behind the scenes.
Also Read: What is the net worth of Shawn Michaels?
How Hulk Hogan reacted to Shawn Michaels' actions
Eric Bischoff had a good relationship with Hulk Hogan dating back to their time in WCW.
The former WCW executive recalled how Hogan felt "extremely disappointed" after the SummerSlam 2005 main event:
"He knew what was going on," Bischoff continued. "He knew he was being embarrassed out there by Shawn and he knew it was intentional. He wasn't angry. I even remember seeing him after the match because I went right to him. I don't wanna say feelings were hurt – that's not the right way to say it. I think he was just extremely disappointed because he knew it sucked." [1:20:20 – 1:20:47]
Hogan and Michaels never faced each other again after their underwhelming encounter. A year later, The Hulkster defeated Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2006 in what turned out to be his final WWE match.
Do you think Shawn Michaels was wrong to oversell against Hulk Hogan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Please credit 83 Weeks and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
