Top 6 Biggest Botches Of Shawn Michaels’ Wrestling Career

Top 6 Biggest Botches Of Shawn Michaels’ Wrestling Career

Wrestling fans have always considered WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels one of the greatest wrestlers of all time as the Heartbreak Kid entertained millions with his flawless in-ring work and the portrayal of his character on-screen.


Shawn Michaels was the complete package and the benchmark by which the fans judge the wrestlers of the current generation. He might have had a cocky attitude during his early days in the business, but he matured as the years went by and has become one of the most respected members of the pro wrestling industry.

Fans have always admired his impeccable in-ring technique and execution of moves, and he made little to no errors for most of his career. But even the mighty have had their moments days, and Shawn Michaels has also made some botches in his career, which are very few.

RELATED: Shawn Michaels’ 10 Best WrestleMania Attires, Ranked

With that said, let’s take a look at the six biggest botches of Shawn Michaels’ iconic in-ring career.

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6 First Move Out Of Retirement

Shawn Michaels botched axe handle at Crown Jewel

Shawn Michaels retired from in-ring competition after losing his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26. The Heartbreak Kid stayed true to the match stipulation and refrained from getting back in the ring at all costs, but WWE’s lucrative deal with Saudi Arabia offered him a juicy chance to fill his pockets with a one-off return to the ring.

Shawn Michaels and Triple H entered into a rivalry with The Undertaker and Kane right in time for the 2018 Crown Jewel PPV. It resulted in HBK coming out of retirement for one night as he teamed up with The Game to take on The Brothers of Destruction at the event.

However, HBK showed signs of ring rust almost immediately when Triple H tagged him inside, as Michaels scaled the turnbuckle and looked to hit an axe handle on Kane, but he missed the easy target and hit Triple H on the wrist instead.

5 Entrance Botch

Shawn Micahaels' entrance botch

Shawn Michaels has one of the best theme songs in pro wrestling history, and his usual entrance routine would see him kneel in the ramp and pray for a while before raising his arms to set off the pyro.

HBK did the same routine when he made his entrance on the May 9, 2005, episode of Raw, but he found himself in a precarious and embarrassing botch when his jacket got stuck to the entrance ramp. He struggled to get back on his feet and fell flat on his back, as all the fans in the arena and those watching on television watched Michaels’ predicament.

RELATED: Every Major Shawn Michaels Feud During WWE’s New Generation Era, Ranked Worst To Best

After struggling and pulling for a while, Michaels ditched his jacket on the ground and had an awkward pause before he made his way to the ring to compete against Edge, who was also watching the uncomfortable situation.

4 Casket Botch

Shawn Michaels inside a casket

Sometimes botches can happen on any side, and Shawn Michaels found it the hard way during the build-up to his WrestleMania match against The Undertaker.

In one such instance, WWE cameras captured a hearse driving into the arena parking area as the Undertaker’s theme music played in the background. Pallbearers came out and pulled out a coffin from inside the hearse, and the fans thought The Undertaker was in there.

But Shawn Michaels was the one who came out of the casket, and just as he uttered some words, the WWE production crew messed up the mic, and the fans didn’t hear what HBK said after making the cool entrance.

3 Moonsault Botch

Shawn Michaels at Crown Jewel 2018

After the first botch mentioned above, Shawn Michaels found himself in a tougher position during the tag team match against The Brothers of Destruction at the 2018 Crown Jewel PPV.

HBK managed to pull himself back into the match and continued to fight The Undertaker and Kane, and one of the planned spots was to have HBK perform his signature moonsault from the top turnbuckle onto the Brothers of Destruction standing outside the ring.

RELATED: 10 Best Sweet Chin Music Superkicks Of Shawn Michaels’ Career, Ranked

While The Undertaker and Kane were supposed to take the impact and catch HBK as he executed the move, the Brothers of Destruction missed the timing and failed to catch HBK as he performed the moonsault, which resulted in the latter crashing down hard on the floor.

2 Ladder Match Botch

Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon at SummerSlam 1995

Shawn Michaels competed in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship against Razor Ramon at Survivor Series 1995, and it was a rematch of their classic encounter at WrestleMania 10.

Fans had high expectations for the match, and HBK and Razor Ramon gave everything they had in a match that lasted over 25 minutes. However, Shawn Michaels found himself in an embarrassing situation during the bout when he executed the planned spot for the finish.

He was supposed to take Ramon out of the way and climb up the ladder to retrieve the title, but Michaels misjudged the angle at which he placed the ladder and ended up placing the ladder far away from the title. He even tried to reach the title but fell flat on the canvas.

1 Royal Rumble 1998

Shawn Michaels at Royal Rumble 1998

Shawn Michaels defended the WWE Championship against The Undertaker in a casket match at the 1998 Royal Rumble PPV, and the event turned out to be a life changer for HBK as he sustained a serious injury during the match, which almost made him retire,

During the match, Shawn Michaels was supposed to take a back body drop over the top rope onto the casket out of the ring. However, he missed the timing during the execution and ended up crashing his lower back on the casket, which herniated two discs in his back and crushed a third.

The injury resulted in HBK announcing his retirement from in-ring competition, but the Showstopper made a return in 2002.