page_title: Shawn Michaels
section_title: Two Dudes with Attitudes (1992–1995)
hierarchical_section_title: Shawn Michaels / Professional wrestling career / Return to the WWF/E / Two Dudes with Attitudes (1992–1995)
caption_attribution_description: English: Shawn Michaels and Diesel pose before defending their WWF World Tag Team Championship belts at the Wembley Arena in London.
context_page_description: Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler, actor, and television presenter. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history, he is known by the nicknames "Heartbreak Kid", "The Showstopper", and "Mr. WrestleMania".
  Michaels wrestled consistently for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation, from 1988 until a back injury forced his first retirement in 1998. He performed in non-wrestling roles for the next two years and returned to the ring for a match in his own Texas Wrestling Academy in 2000. Michaels resumed his wrestling career with WWE in 2002 and retired ceremoniously in 2010, before being assigned as a trainer in 2016. He returned for a final match in 2018.
  In the WWF/WWE, Michaels headlined pay-per-view events between 1989 and 2018, closing the company's flagship annual event, WrestleMania, five times. He was the co-founder and original leader of the successful stable, D-Generation X. Michaels also wrestled in the American Wrestling Association, where he founded The Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty in 1985.
context_section_description: At the suggestion of Curt Hennig, Michaels adopted the nickname "The Heartbreak Kid". Along with his new name came a new gimmick as a vain, cocky villain. He was put together with mirror-carrying manager, Sensational Sherri, who according to the storyline had become infatuated with him. Sherri even sang the first version of his new theme music, "Sexy Boy". During that period, after Michaels had wrestled his scheduled match at live events, his departure was announced with "Shawn Michaels has left the building", alluding to the phrase "Elvis has left the building".
  At WrestleMania VIII, Michaels defeated Tito Santana in his first pay-per-view singles match after both men had simultaneously eliminated each other from that year's Royal Rumble. Michaels subsequently became a contender to the promotion's singles titles and failed to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from champion Randy Savage in his first opportunity to compete for that title at British event UK Rampage, held on April 19 at the Sheffield Arena and broadcast on Sky Movies Plus (the match later aired in the US on the edition of June 15 of Prime Time Wrestling). Michaels was also unable to win the Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart in the WWF's first ladder match at a Wrestling Challenge taping on July 21, which was subsequently made available on multiple Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases. However, he won the title from The British Bulldog on Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI, which aired on November 14. Shortly thereafter, he faced Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the Survivor Series, but lost the match. Originally the secondary main event, Michaels and Hart became the primary main event after The Ultimate Warrior was unable to compete and was replaced by Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig) in the tag team match that involved Randy Savage against the team of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. During this time, Michaels and Sherri split and he engaged himself in a feud with former tag team partner Marty Jannetty. Michaels lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jannetty on the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, but regained it on June 6 with the help of his debuting "bodyguard" (and off-air friend) Diesel.
  In September 1993, Michaels was suspended for testing positive for steroid – a charge he never admitted. On WWF programs, his suspension was explained by his having neglected to defend the title often enough. After turning down World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s advances, Michaels returned to the WWF and made several appearances in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) during a WWF/USWA cross-promotion. He returned to WWF television in November at the Survivor Series substituting for Jerry Lawler, who was dealing with legal issues, in a match pitting himself and three of Lawler's "Knights" against the Hart brothers, Bret, Bruce, Keith and Owen.
  In 1994, Michaels entered a rivalry with Razor Ramon, who had won the Intercontinental Championship, which had been vacated during Michaels's absence. Since Michaels had never been defeated in the ring for the title, he claimed to be the rightful champion and even carried around his old title belt. This feud culminated in a ladder match between the two at WrestleMania X. Michaels lost the match, which featured both his and Ramon's championship belts suspended above a ladder in the ring. This match was voted by fans as "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. It also received a five-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer, the first of nine WWF/E matches to do so. Over the next few months, Michaels battled various injuries and launched the Heartbreak Hotel television talk show segment, mainly shown on Superstars.
  On August 28, Michaels and Diesel captured the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). The next day at SummerSlam, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ramon when Michaels accidentally superkicked Diesel. This triggered a split between Michaels and Diesel, a storyline that was drawn out until Surviv
caption: Diesel acted as Michaels's on-air bodyguard and tag team partner for two championship reigns
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