Happy Birthday To HBK, Shawn Michaels
Happy birthday to one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time, the Heartbreak Kid, Mr. Wrestlemania, Shawn Michaels.
Today the Texas native turns 55-years-old.
He was born in Arizona, but as a member of a military family, they moved around a lot during his childhood. The family moved from Arizona, to England, before settling in San Antonio, Texas where Michaels was raised.
In high school, Michaels was a football standout, even becoming the captain of his team. He made his way to Southwest Texas State University, or Texas State, before dropping out of college to become a professional wrestler.
Michaels pro wrestling career started with training from Jose Lothario. He then joined Mid-South Wrestling in Shreveport. In fact, Michaels had his first televised pro wrestling match in Shreveport.
Eventually Michaels made his way to the WWF (now WWE), originally debuting as a member of the tag-team The Rockers. That partnership with Marty Jannetty lead to Michaels first WWF championship, winning the WWF Tag Team Championships in 1990. It also led to one of the biggest team breakups, and memorable moments, in WWF/WWE history. When The Rockers broke up, Michaels kicked Jannetty and threw him through a window during a promo with Brutus The Barber Beefcake's "Barbershop".
After that, Michaels became a main event talent, eventually winning 4 World Championships, 3 Intercontinental Championships, a European Championship, two Royal Rumbles, and 5 more Tag Team Championships. Michaels is a Triple Crown Champion, and was the first Grand Slam Champion in WWF/WWE history.
Not only that, but Michaels has won 11 Match of the Year awards from Pro Wrestling Illustrated, as well as March of the Decade for 2000-2009 (Wrestlemania XXIV against Ric Flair).
He's a two time WWE Hall of Fame member, once as an individual, and once as a member of D-Generation X.