Was HBK ready to return earlier than expected?

[Wii M Punk]

Ok WM 26 looms now and obviously we have Shawn Michaels putting his career on the line against the Undertaker. If HBK loses then he'll retire (or take 6 months off as most of us are speculating). It's got me thinking though, it's hard to believe HBK has been back now for 8 years. Seems like yesterday, doesn't it?

However as I was thinking about HBK's return from injury in 2002, does anyone remember the random appearances Shawn would make on WWE TV between 1998 and 2000?

He came back with a bit more of a long term plan in 1998 as the new WWE Commissioner which continued into early 1999 but then he just vanished and began appearing every so often.

Namely, the one that sticks out most in my mind from that time is an edition of Smackdown in September 1999 when he screwed over The Rock in a match with Triple H. A heel turn which is very often forgotten because it was so random and pretty much brushed under the carpet with no follow up. However in hindsight it had so much potential to be huge if it had followed it's intended course. That's if there even was an intended course for it.

WWE saw Triple H as "the guy" but he wasn't getting the heel heat he needed to be a main event player so they were throwing all sorts of things his way to get him booed. After losing the belt to Vinnie Mac, HHH had to qualify for the title match at Unforgiven 1999 by winning 3/5 matches against the other competitors in the 6-Pack Challenge. It came down to Triple H having to beat The Rock in a Brahma Bullrope match with HBK as the special guest referee.

As The Rock went for a Peoples Elbow, Shawn superkicked The Rock completely out of the blue, allowing Triple H to win then afterwards he aligned with Hunter which of course got major boos.

(EDIT: See posts below, I've got this incident mixed up. It happened in Triple H's first title defence in August 1999 against The Rock on Smackdown. Still, nothing came of it though)

Then Shawn just vanished again with no follow up to this. The Rock mentioned it in one promo after it but Shawn wasn't coming back so they couldn't go anywhere with it. I remember watching this angle as a teenager and being pumped that Shawn would be coming back and waited every week for somekind of follow up or confrontation between Shawn and The Rock. It never happened...

Triple H got the belt back at Unforgiven but his association with Chyna was losing him heat as she had now turned face. So WWE dusted off DX and they began a heel run together which lead to the McMahon-Helmsley era... *shudder*

Shawn then re-appeared again in the Spring on 2000 and was announced as the guest referee for the Iron Man Match at Judgement Day between Triple H and The Rock.

Once again Shawn Michaels awarded the match to Triple H when he disqualified The Rock with seconds to go due to interference from The Undertaker. Triple H won 6 decisions to 5 and it's the only time the belt has changed hands via a DQ.

Again this would give The Rock means to be pissed at Shawn Michaels but once again Shawn vanished from WWE TV making his cameo as guest referee at the PPV a bit pointless and non-sensicle.

Shawn made one more appearance in 2000 to hand over the reigns of Commissioner to Mick Foley who turned into a brilliant (and regular) on screen character during that era.

Shawn wasn't seen in WWE again until 2002.

Of course years later the stories came out that HBK was just pilled out his head most the time and in the DVD, Heartbreak & Triumph, Triple H makes a few candid comments about Shawn's problems.

But something Hunter says on his commentaries on that DVD got me intrigued. He mentions around about the 99/2000 time the WWE had "plans" to bring Shawn in and do things with him but due to his drug problems he just wasn't reliable. It became too stop/start with Shawn and they had to end the plans and get Shawn to rehab. Which explains why Shawn would appear then disappear for months.

On that DVD, Hunter talks about an incident where Shawn busts into the dressing room and just verbally destroys Triple H right infront of everyone because Hunter basically said to Vince that Shawn's got problems.

Considering Shawn kept screwing over The Rock (intentionally or not) it would look like they were pointing towards HBK vs The Rock. A match we never got and never will now. But were these "The Plans" for Shawn Michaels that Triple H refers to in the DVD? Was it a full time return to the ring earlier than what we got?

Yes Shawn was legit injured but did the injury keep him out for 4 years, really? Or did Shawn heal up but his personal demons and the rehab which followed keep him on the sidelines a lot longer than expected? Makes you wonder.

I always believed he was legit injured for that length of time but then the more stories I hear about Pilled Up Shawn makes me think yes, the injury played a huge part in his time out but how much did the demons play a part? Rehab and becoming a born again Christian doesn't happen over night, it'd take the best part of a year at least.

Then again knowing what we know now it's great Shawn changed his ways. If he was rushed back or had continued on his path of drugs and drink, without seeking help, where would he be now?

[Deleted]

You've gotten confused with the Michaels turn. That was when he refereed Triple H's title defense on SmackDown directly after he won the title for the first time. The Brahma Bullstrap match was refereed by the British Bulldog.

[Wii M Punk]

Mar 24, 2010 8:03:57 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

You've gotten confused with the Michaels turn. That was when he refereed Triple H's title defense on SmackDown directly after he won the title for the first time. The Brahma Bullstrap match was refereed by the British Bulldog.

Ah thanks for clearing that up, my bad.

[Woooooolhouse!]

But there was a Triple H title defense against The Rock that Shawn Michaels interjected himself into as Special Referee, and superkicked Rock and aligned himself with Triple H... but nothing ever came of it. It was one of H's first title defenses after defeating Mankind the night after Sumerslam '99. It just wasn't the Bramhma Bullrope match. It was before that.

[Bob Schlapowitz]

I'm pretty sure that HBK was supposed to do a run-in of some kind at Wrestlemania X7, but he showed up pilled out and in absolutely no-shape to perform. WWF magazine at the time, even had an article about HBK's "comeback" (that never happened)

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

Mar 24, 2010 8:27:39 GMT -5 Bob Schlapowitz said:

I'm pretty sure that HBK was supposed to do a run-in of some kind at Wrestlemania X7, but he showed up pilled out and in absolutely no-shape to perform. WWF magazine at the time, even had an article about HBK's "comeback" (that never happened)

That would make sense because it was the Raw that Shane went on Nitro, that caused that whole falling out between HBK and Trips. Triple H even mentions that Taker just looked at him with a look of "Can you believe this shit?" Because Taker even before that point was fed up with Shawn.

I'd venture to guess that his back may not have been 100% but it most certainly wasn't helped by Shawn's drug addiction. And his drug problems and attitude certainly had to stop the WWE from bringing him in full time as an authority figure, or even as an announcer.

And in a way you've got to have some respect for Hunter, just for not decking Shawn. Trips talks about on his DVD that his memory of Wrestlemania 14 is tainted because he spent most of that week convincing Shawn to show up, and the aforementioned incident with HBK cutting a huge promo on him in front of everyone. Hell, Nash (I think it was him) has basically admitted that if not for Triple H, the members of the Kliq would be dead.

[nerdinitupagain]

Probably, but the guy was still a dopehead. He made the right decision not coming back until he was clean and Jesusfied.