#2. Shawn Michaels
Achievements/Accolades:
- 4-time WWE World Champion
- 3-time WWE Intercontinental Champion
- 6-time WWE Tag Team Champion
- 1-time WWE European Champion
- Royal Rumble Winner (1995, 1996)
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)
Opinions:
“I will give you a show that you have never, ever seen before. Why? Because I can.” Truer words can never be better applied. The Showstopper, the Icon, the Main event be it in 1988, 1998 or 2008 brought his A-game every single time delivering incredible match after incredible match earning his reputation as one of the greatest talents of all time. He also proved to be a figure of constant introduction: Bringing together the infamous D-Generation X group, popularizing the Ladder match and serving as a major figure of the WWE’s New Generation, the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression era and the Universe Era. Shawn Michaels is a true workhorse of the industry and for that, he has left impactful memories.” — Zak Fellows
“I’ve always had the love/hate thing with Shawn Michaels. He was the main reason I took a brief sabbatical from watching wrestling in 1996. That and hormones. Anyway, when HBK defeated Bret Hart for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 12, I was flabbergasted! I couldn’t believe, logically, that Shawn could be Bret. I didn’t get it. It made no sense to me. However, HBK went on to prove that he deserved that spot and worked extremely hard to keep it. Personally, I’m a bigger fan of his run from 2002-2010 than I was of his 1988-1998 tenure. But with that being said, he was the pioneer of The Attitude Era. His entire persona reeked of the direction that the business was naturally taking. He was able to build a body of work that is very difficult to touch & there could be a serious argument that Shawn Michaels is the greatest wrestler of all time.” — Jay Alletto
