Old School HBK=Pretty bad dude

C'mon now. That's just awesome.

Haha that story makes me chuckle

HBk was def a bad dude but most of what u described was just him playing the dx character for tv. (althought it was an extention of his true self) If you watch hbk in 1996 he is alot different. Good matches to watch if you want to see hbk in his peak as a face are wm 12 vs bret and in your house mind games vs mankind. If you want to see heel dx hbk his best matches are wm 14 vs austin and bad blood 97 hell in a cell vs taker. He also had a hilarious joke match on raw vs hhh for the euro title

He says cocky, and I say - what?

when i worked at kmart my co worker was with the company for 20+ years or so. anyways i was looking at an HBK figure to buy one day and she told me she hated him and i asked her why and i guess he did an instore for kmart many years back and when the manager slide him a marker to sign he throw it back at the manager and demanded he handed it to him. so i'd say he used to be a cocky prick either that or he was extremely into kayfabe even to kmart managers.

HBK had to play a character when he was a face......when he was heel DX and earlier HBK it was all him....and you could tell that too.it was effortless

I'm convinced that dissing HBK from the 90s is WF's favourite Classic Wrestling discussion.

From all of the reports I've read over the years (since I obviously didn't witness them firsthand), Shawn was a huge prick back in the day and he would probably acknowledge it today if asked.

He has said in recent years that he was "hard to get along with" back in those days and his personal life was a mess (in this month's WWE magazine, Shawn says "The ring was the one place where I felt comfortable, because in every other aspect of my life, I wasn't very comfortable." - in reference to the year 1996).

The amount of stories that exist out there about his attitude and pull backstage with Vince during the mid-to-late 90s are difficult to refute. A lot of mid-carders with potential were not allowed the opportunity to compete in the main event on the level of the Kliq (a group of friends comprised of Michaels, Hall, Nash, HHH, 1-2-3 Kid/X-Pac, and apparently Aldo Montoya/Justin Credible was an additional member, too).

The deal with Bret Hart could probably be chalked up to jealousy on Shawn's behalf. Bret was offered a spot in the Kliq when it was first being formed, but he declined. Since Bret was still a major fixture in the main event and Shawn had yet to break through, Bret became an obstacle for Shawn to overcome and/or remove from the scenario if he was ever going to reach the top.

Shawn's temper tantrums and convincing ways, as well as his refusal to lose a title clean and give up his spot for anyone but his friends, got on Bret's nerves and really climaxed backstage in July 1997 when the two of them got in a physical altercation. Bret definitely won the fight and tore out a clump of Shawn's hair in the process, which then resulted in Shawn quitting the WWF before returning a few days later (he was in the middle of a storyline with Steve Austin as tag champs at the time).

There are rumors that suggest Michaels didn't even want to lose to Austin at WrestleMania XIV up until the night of the event. That's where the story of 'Taker taping up his fists while waiting in the Gorilla position for Shawn backstage comes in, if he tried screwing Austin over. However, at that point, Shawn physically could not continue as WWF champion with a broken back.

In many ways, the back problems that forced his early retirement in late March 1998 was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. He was addicted to prescription pills and painkillers and could have been another casualty for the wrestling business, but he cleaned up his act and I believe he is a changed man.

But, that shouldn't erase all that was done in the past. There's no sense dwelling on it or trying to dig up dirt from it, though, but the fall of 1997 into spring 1998 should be remembered as heel HBK at his finest.

His best in-ring work took place throughout 1996 in his first reign as WWF champion.

I'll give you Candido due to the Sunny fling. But as far as Douglas goes, I believe it was probably a two-way street. Douglas was a bit of a prick back then too, so I'm sure he didn't help his own cause very much backstage. Not that Michaels was a saint, but I doubt Douglas' WWF failings were entirely HBK's fault.