Fast forward several years. Shawn is part of a highly successful stable called D-Generation X. He is cocky, rude, brash. He makes crude jokes. I absolutely loathe him. I even cheer when I see his face get raked across the chain-link siding of the "Hell in a Cell" cage. But then, after years of success and celebrity, Shawn leaves the business, and I am quite happy to forget about him.
Fast forward again several years. I am happy to watch my wrestling every week, even look forward to it. Then something odd happens. The man that I loathed, Shawn Michaels, returns to the squared-circle. I watch, with much trepidation, as he returns to the business that I love as my own. And strangely, I feel myself drawn to him. He has changed in these last few years away from the business. He has developed morals, he has found goodness and decency in his life. And, rather oddly, he refuses to compromise any of his ideals for the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Vincent McMahon. The more I listened to Shawn's story, the more intrigued I became.
I think what impressed me most about Shawn was that, during his time away from wrestling, he "found God". Now, I'm not going to delve into whether I believe in his God or not. I am going to say that this man believed so much in his faith that he told his boss that he would not compromise those beliefs by swearing, being hateful, or disrespect his wife and family by taking part in stories that were degrading to them, and himself. I know that he drew a lot of criticism for his values, but he didn't bow to the pressure of society.
Suddenly, this man that I had loathed for so many years, was a wonderful human being in my eyes. I watched as the industry made fun of him for his personal show of faith. When he would enter the ring, he would drop to his knees and give praise to his God, on camera, in front of millions of fans. At one point, so much was made over this that Shawn was in a tag-team handicap match, himself and God against Vince and Shane McMahon, and Triple H. Of course, the "story" was that Shawn and God lost. I truly believe that Shawn was the winner, for never compromising himself.
I continued to follow Shawn's career. Last September was the last time I was able to see a live WWE show. Shawn and Triple H had reformed D-X, as it was now referred to, and they put on one hell of a show. They had a match during the televised show, and after the cameras were off, they had another match with John Cena against Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr., and Cody Rhodes. Once the match was over, the "good guys" (Cena, Triple H, and Shawn) went around the ring, shaking hands, giving high-fives, signing autographs and taking pictures. At one point, Cena was getting ready to leave the arena to go backstage. In my heart, I know he was exhausted after having been in three (!) matches that night. There was a group of severely handicapped fans in the arena who let Shawn know that they wanted pictures with Cena. Shawn went running after Cena, pulled him back to those fans, and made sure they got their pictures. Now I know that to many people, this will sound like a silly story. But in my eyes, this made Shawn even more lovable. Instead of letting his ego be hurt that these fans wanted to see a different wrestler, he made their dreams come true. And the fact that he did not brush off these fans, who were so obviously "different", touched my heart in a profound way.
Shawn Michaels retired this April, after losing to Undertaker at Wrestlemania 26. In my heart, I knew that he was going to lose that match, which would force his retirement. And I cried. I cried that the industry was losing such a wonderful entertainer and man. I cried that I would never get to see him wrestle again. And I cried, knowing how this man had helped shape my life in the last few years, that I had spent so much time, so many years ago, loathing him. Because Shawn was so honest about his God and his religious beliefs, I was able to be honest about my own beliefs, not only with myself, but with family and friends.
So, thank you, Shawn Michaels. Thank you for your courage, your bravery, your showmanship. Thank you for helping to make me the woman I am today. I love you, and Goddess bless you on the rest of your journey.
