The true meaning of the word "Icon"

Shawn Michaels. The Heart Break Kid. The Showstopper. The Icon. The Main event. Mr. WrestleMania. All of those phrases have been used to describe Shawn Michaels, but here is another one. Hero. I don’t mean hero in the sense of the men and women of our armed forces, police officers and fire fighters, but sports hero.

Ever since I can remember HBK has been my favorite wrestler. I don’t know if it was his look, his attitude or his in ring skill or a combination of it all, but he was always my number one guy. As an 8 year old kid I was at Madison Square Garden in 1994 at WrestleMania X. That was a time where wrestling was real and there was no internet, rumors or spoilers in my world. At the time I had no idea how big an event WMX was. When you are 8 you are just in awe of everything.

On the card that night you had brother vs brother and 2, yes 2 WWE title matches, but the one match from that night that people remember is the ladder match. I was in the very last row at the top of MSG so I basically had to watch the monitor, but it was an amazing experience. The one thing I remember is that HBK had his pants pulled down and his bare ass was there for us all to see as he jumped off the ladder, pants down, onto Razor Ramon.

Maybe that match is what started my love affair of Shawn Michaels. What I love about HBK is his attitude about wrestling. Forget what an asshole he was before he found god and changed his life. I wasn’t part of that world and frankly, didn’t want to be. Shawn was the best and I didn’t want to hear anything bad about him. He always had the attitude of whether you are at WrestleMania at MSG or a house show in Iowa, you should give the people the best match of the night. That, in a nutshell, is why I love Shawn Michaels.

Now jumping some 16 years later, Shawn Michaels was saying goodbye. I knew he was retiring. I knew the Undertaker was going to win and honestly, I wanted him to. I never want the streak to end, but it wasn’t until Raw the next night that I began to feel sadness. I never expected to feel this much sadness and depression. But the man who never put on a bad match and entertained me for hours and hours was no more. Was he really leaving? Why? He can still wrestle now like he could 16 years ago. And that isn’t an exaggeration, it’s a fact.

Look at last years Mania. HBK vs Taker 1 was the greatest match I have ever seen. HBK still has it, but there is nothing left for him to do. Its time for him to be with his family everyday, instead of traveling. Me being selfish and ignorant I always said HBK would always be there, but that’s not the case. He’s doing what no wrestler ever does, retire on top. Not because he has to, but because he wants to.
After Raw went off the air I had that feeling in the pit of your stomach, like the one you get when your team gets eliminated from the playoffs or your vacation from school just ended. The feeling of sadness.

I’ve had an HBK poster on the outside of my door for as long as I can remember. Its from circa 1995 and I will never take that down. It always reminds me of how great Shawn was and still is. I also have a plaque from when he won his first WWE title with a piece of the ring. That is one of the coolest moments in wrestling history and at a simple glance I have tons of memories come to mind.

Writing this I realized that I have absolutely no writing skills and suck at expressing what I want to say. But I think you get my point. HBK isn’t just some wrestler that was fun to watch won’t be missed, he will be missed. Just seeing his name on the card for whatever show you happen to be going to or watching, you knew you were going to get the best that man had to offer on that given night.
It’s a philosophy that I wish I could live by. Always give 100% at everything you do no matter what you are doing or where you are doing it. I don’t know how if I will feel sadness when I decide to watch one of my HBK tapes or DVDs, but I’ll tell you what I will feel; joy.

There isn’t a match I’ve seen with Shawn in it that I thought “well that was lame.” The man put his heart and soul into doing what he loves and entertaining us. I can’t express how happy I am that HBK found what he needed to find to turn his life around. Sure his born again persona wasn’t the most entertaining, like his badass fuck the world attitude from the mid to late 90s, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is what happens inside the ropes.

So Shawn thank you for the hours and hours of joy you have brought me (and millions) and congrats on an amazing career, turning your life around, having a family and going out on your own terms. To me you are the greatest wrestler who has ever lived and it was a privilege to have seen you in person. Raw and the WWE will not be the same without you.

-Matt