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Post by hbkwrestlinggod on May 19, 2018 22:38:36 GMT -5
Rock is the best ever at working promos and Shawn Michaels is the best ever at working matches and the fact that these two never worked with each other has to be the biggest match to never happen. One thing I notice is Rock definitely disliked Shawn Michaels during Shawn Michaels career. In fact, I wouldn't consider it a coincidence that Rock returned to the wrestling ring as soon as Shawn Michaels retired by 2011. I always wouldn't consider it a coincidence that Shawn Michaels returned to the ring as soon as Rock was slowly but surely on his way to transitioning into movies by 2002. It's a damn shame these men disliked each other as I consider Shawn Michaels the creator of the attitude era and Rock the biggest star of the attitude era. Let's recap some of the stories I've heard about there real life feud:
Causing the tension: It seems what first caused the tension was Shawn Michaels was disrespectful to his maternal grandmother (Lia Maivia) at a wrestling show she was coordinating for Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling. His disrespect towards her incensed Rock, and nearly led to an altercation.
Years later in a story about the very first episode of Smackdown, Shawn Michaels and Rock would butt heads again but this time they actually got physical in the wwe locker room! Lets hear the story from Rock's dad himself:
Interviews where Rock showed he disliked Shawn Michaels or refusing to work with him:
This interview came not much longer after the physical altercation and you can tell Rock definitely had no interest in discussing Shawn Michaels. By 2005, Vince and Pat Patterson wanted Shawn Michaels to finally have his big match with Rock and they even asked Rock publicly through a WWE.com interview in which Rock declined and claimed he was never interested in working with Shawn Michaels.
Instead, Rock waits until Shawn Michaels offically retires from the ring and than returns to face John Cena. There tension reminds me a little bit of Austin\Hogan tension but even worse if you ask me. It's a damn tragedy that Rock\HBK never feuded as a heel HBK in late 1999 vs babyface Rock would of been money had Shawn been healthy and clean. Even by 2005 Shawn Michaels was still the best worker in the company and they would of tore the house down I'm sure. Shawn Michaels was a main event heel while Rock was a midcard heel so they never had a chance to feud in 1997. By the time Shawn Michaels returned, Rock was the biggest name in the history of the business and could call the shots on who he wanted to work with and unfortunately for us Shawn Michaels fans, Shawn wasn't one of them.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2018 22:46:38 GMT -5
The Rock: I'd see him backstage and say "hey" and he'd be like "hey" and I'd be like "That's cool."
Whatever!
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Post by xxshoyuweeniexx on May 19, 2018 23:21:14 GMT -5
From what I hear, HBK (as well as the Kilq) tried to sabotage Rock early in his career, refusing to work with him and slightly badmouthing him to guys like Vince and Pat Patterson. Bret Hart stepped in and actually helped him, even having a match with Rocky on Raw when Michaels wouldn’t.
Definitely one of those cases where 90s Shawn Michaels was a dick and used the Kliq to sabotage any promising talent. That shit came to a stop thankfully when Rock and Austin came along and certain guys (Taker, Bret) weren’t gonna put up with his shit anymore.
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Powerline
ALF
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Post by Powerline on May 19, 2018 23:39:13 GMT -5
It's funny. This is one of those things I SWEAR I remember having a memory of seeing segments on. I have this memory of watching at least two promos where The Rock challenged Shawn at a PPV, but DX never brought it up in promos or retaliated, and no match ever happened. This was when I was limited to watching recap shows on Saturday mornings (I'd stay at my grandparents' since my parents worked, and they had cable whereas we didn't), but I swear I can recall them trying to get the ball rolling on this. I even remember thinking (in my 9-10 year old mind) the match wouldn't be good because The Rock at the time was needing to be underhanded to beat midcard guys and Shawn was the WWE Champion, and DX was a bigger threat than the Nation, so Rock would never have a chance under any circumstance.
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Post by Defrebel - White Pony on May 20, 2018 0:13:05 GMT -5
That Keller interview is f***ing hilarious. Dude is like begging him to give the slightest shit about Shawn Michaels and Rock just can't be bothered at all.
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Post by Mayonnaise on May 20, 2018 0:26:34 GMT -5
I don't think it would be a good pairing. Both thrive off of selling huge and then big flashy comebacks which don't mesh well, IMO. I think Austin/Hogan would have been the bigger match and they could brawl and mesh their key spots together, Thesz Press to Hulk Up, "You" point to double birds. Stunner attempt shoved off and rebounds into the big boot.
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Post by Prince Petty on May 20, 2018 0:48:11 GMT -5
I seem to recall The Rock being pretty critical of Shawn in that weird, part-kayfabe "autobiography" that was released while he was still wrestling.
Said Shawn and Hunter were assholes to him when he first came in, while Bret and Owen were really helpful and friendly.
The only on-screen appearances I can remember them having together once Rock became a star were during Michael's coked-out run as commissioner. And i doubt that would have done much to dissipate any heat between them.
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Post by Jedi-El of Tomorrow on May 20, 2018 0:53:50 GMT -5
Sorry, it's not even close to the biggest match that never happened. Hogan vs Austin is the biggest match to never happen, followed by Cena vs Austin, Cena vs Hogan, Austin vs Goldberg, Rock vs Savage, Stone Cold vs Savage, Cena vs Savage, and Undertaker vs Goldberg, to name some. Shawn just never hit the mainstream to where you could call it the biggest match to never happen.
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Post by hbkwrestlinggod on May 20, 2018 1:23:47 GMT -5
Sorry, it's not even close to the biggest match that never happened. Hogan vs Austin is the biggest match to never happen, followed by Cena vs Austin, Cena vs Hogan, Austin vs Goldberg, Rock vs Savage, Stone Cold vs Savage, Cena vs Savage, and Undertaker vs Goldberg, to name some. Shawn just never hit the mainstream to where you could call it the biggest match to never happen. Shawn Michaels match with Hogan summerslam 2005 drew bigger than any hogan savage match and that was when Hogan was on decline. A heel turn from shawn michaels was what drew the second biggest ever buyrate at Summerslam 2005 and Hogan was far past his prime. Michaels also drew great with Cena 1 on 1 and did a great raw rating with him the night after. The Austin and Shawn Michaels feud was the biggest feud of the monday night wars that was much more successful than Sting-Hogan. The curtain call received national attention. Despite being undefeated at wrestlemania for the longest time, its Shawn Michaels who WWE brands as mr wrestlemania and makes a dvd out of it not Undertaker. I love Undertaker top 10 favorite but he was never the guy like Shawn Michaels was. Shawn Michaels also helped increase buys at royal rumble 1998 as he was the main event. Id say Shawn Michaels is very underrated as a draw and can hold his own with just about anybody besides Rock-Austin-Hogan. Rock was a bigger draw than Austin and Hogan and thats why I think his match with HBK is the biggest match ever: biggest draw vs best ring worker and not to mention attitude era creator vs attitude era peaker. As far as Goldberg I don't think he's in any potential biggest match to ever happen. Goldberg did not even draw big with The Rock the biggest mainstream star ever, Goldberg is just a flash in the pan because Hogan made him look awful with the finger poke of dome and making him a second fiddle paper champion, never the guy just like Taker.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2018 1:44:05 GMT -5
Honestly it's not a match I remotely see the appeal of. Really Michaels isn't anywhere at all near Rock's level in terms of star presence and Rock isn't anywhere close to him in terms of in ring ability so the whole thing would just feel like both of them were slumming it.
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Cranjis McBasketball
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on May 20, 2018 1:49:02 GMT -5
Sorry, it's not even close to the biggest match that never happened. Hogan vs Austin is the biggest match to never happen, followed by Cena vs Austin, Cena vs Hogan, Austin vs Goldberg, Rock vs Savage, Stone Cold vs Savage, Cena vs Savage, and Undertaker vs Goldberg, to name some. Shawn just never hit the mainstream to where you could call it the biggest match to never happen. Shawn Michaels match with Hogan summerslam 2005 drew bigger than any hogan savage match and that was when Hogan was on decline. A heel turn from shawn michaels was what drew the second biggest ever buyrate at Summerslam 2005 and Hogan was far past his prime. Michaels also drew great with Cena 1 on 1 and did a great raw rating with him the night after. The Austin and Shawn Michaels feud was the biggest feud of the monday night wars that was much more successful than Sting-Hogan. The curtain call received national attention. Despite being undefeated at wrestlemania for the longest time, its Shawn Michaels who WWE brands as mr wrestlemania and makes a dvd out of it not Undertaker. I love Undertaker top 10 favorite but he was never the guy like Shawn Michaels was. Shawn Michaels also helped increase buys at royal rumble 1998 as he was the main event. Id say Shawn Michaels is very underrated as a draw and can hold his own with just about anybody besides Rock-Austin-Hogan. Rock was a bigger draw than Austin and Hogan and thats why I think his match with HBK is the biggest match ever: biggest draw vs best ring worker and not to mention attitude era creator vs attitude era peaker. As far as Goldberg I don't think he's in any potential biggest match to ever happen. Goldberg did not even draw big with The Rock the biggest mainstream star ever, Goldberg is just a flash in the pan because Hogan made him look awful with the finger poke of dome and making him a second fiddle paper champion, never the guy just like Taker. Not for nothing but WWE released a DVD of Taker’s WrestleMania matches as well.
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Post by hbkwrestlinggod on May 20, 2018 2:04:49 GMT -5
Shawn Michaels match with Hogan summerslam 2005 drew bigger than any hogan savage match and that was when Hogan was on decline. A heel turn from shawn michaels was what drew the second biggest ever buyrate at Summerslam 2005 and Hogan was far past his prime. Michaels also drew great with Cena 1 on 1 and did a great raw rating with him the night after. The Austin and Shawn Michaels feud was the biggest feud of the monday night wars that was much more successful than Sting-Hogan. The curtain call received national attention. Despite being undefeated at wrestlemania for the longest time, its Shawn Michaels who WWE brands as mr wrestlemania and makes a dvd out of it not Undertaker. I love Undertaker top 10 favorite but he was never the guy like Shawn Michaels was. Shawn Michaels also helped increase buys at royal rumble 1998 as he was the main event. Id say Shawn Michaels is very underrated as a draw and can hold his own with just about anybody besides Rock-Austin-Hogan. Rock was a bigger draw than Austin and Hogan and thats why I think his match with HBK is the biggest match ever: biggest draw vs best ring worker and not to mention attitude era creator vs attitude era peaker. As far as Goldberg I don't think he's in any potential biggest match to ever happen. Goldberg did not even draw big with The Rock the biggest mainstream star ever, Goldberg is just a flash in the pan because Hogan made him look awful with the finger poke of dome and making him a second fiddle paper champion, never the guy just like Taker. Not for nothing but WWE released a DVD of Taker’s WrestleMania matches as well. Yeah but Shawn Michaels had the nickname "mr wrestlemania" followed by a 3 disc dvd of him shooting on all the wrestlemania matches which means Vince pretty much sees him as the franchise player of wrestlemania through out the years. You also have to remember when Shawn Michaels sat out WrestleMania 13 and Undertaker main evented, the box office bombed badly. I'd say Hogan made Undertaker's character look bad despite losing him to him and it was Shawn Michaels at HIAC that elevated Undertaker into a much bigger star. Shawn Michaels was the guy who beat Bret Hart, Diesel, Vader and afterwards he was selling for Undertaker like no other in there 1997 feud which gave Undertaker that elevation he needed after Hogan messing it up. I'd say Shawn Michaels was the biggest star of the 90's up until Steve Austin won the title.
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Post by Gerard Gerard on May 20, 2018 2:29:39 GMT -5
Aside from the "he said, she said" stuff, does anyone else just not see this being that interesting of a match? Like nothing I've ever seen Rock do made me think "oh wow, what if tried that with Shawn Michaels?" and vice versa. Dream matches are spawned from great "what if?" and Rock/HBK just doesn't capture the imagination for me. Would it be cool? Most likely. Would it be all that defining in either man's career? I doubt it.
Like, the appeal of Hogan/Austin is pretty clear. Their styles were the exact opposites of each other and you wanna see how that'd mix up. I just don't see that buzz for Rock/HBK.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2018 2:42:26 GMT -5
The build would have been great if HBK had been healthy circa 1999-2001 when Rock's promos were at their peak (after he got into movies they declined a lot and I found a lot of his insults towards Cena to be cringey) at that time they were the two best at cutting down their opponents on the mic so promo battles between the two would have been must watch, plus the added edge of knowing they didn't care for each other much behind the scenes would have added extra spice.
The match? Probably very good, HBK doesn't really do bad matches but it might have led to disappointment from expectations being too high.
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Post by Joe Neglia on May 20, 2018 3:02:24 GMT -5
The curtain call received national attention. If you're saying anyone outside of wrestling gave a crap about that, I have to disagree. Somewhat strongly.
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on May 20, 2018 3:05:43 GMT -5
The curtain call received national attention. Which nation was this?
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Post by hbkwrestlinggod on May 20, 2018 3:17:57 GMT -5
The curtain call received national attention. If you're saying anyone outside of wrestling gave a crap about that, I have to disagree. Somewhat strongly. The curtain call received national attention. Which nation was this? It was in MSG which made it a mainstream big deal because it was presented as the defining moment of kayfabe dying or at least declining in a huge way, which could be looked at as a good or bad thing depending on who you ask. WWE still celebrates it today on there official website so I figured they liked the attention they received from it.
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on May 20, 2018 3:20:38 GMT -5
If you're saying anyone outside of wrestling gave a crap about that, I have to disagree. Somewhat strongly. It was in MSG which made it a mainstream big deal because it was presented as the defining moment of kayfabe dying or at least declining in a huge way, which could be looked at as a good or bad thing depending on who you ask. WWE still celebrates it today on there official website so I figured they liked the attention they received from it. How old were you when it happened?
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2018 3:23:55 GMT -5
If you're saying anyone outside of wrestling gave a crap about that, I have to disagree. Somewhat strongly. It was in MSG which made it a mainstream big deal because it was presented as the defining moment of kayfabe dying or at least declining in a huge way, which could be looked at as a good or bad thing depending on who you ask. WWE still celebrates it today on there official website so I figured they liked the attention they received from it. What attention? It got attention in the company and in the sheets. That's about it. It piqued a smart fan interest in what might happen.
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Post by Mid-Carder on May 20, 2018 3:26:47 GMT -5
It says a lot about the sort of man Dwayne is that despite obviously disliking Shawn, he refuses to say anything negative about him in those interviews. I can’t imagine Shawn or HHH would have shown the same sort of respect.
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