Throughout his WWE career, Shawn Michaels took a lot of beatings and became a superstar. In the mid-1990s, he was the face of the company and his performances brought him to the top, earning everyone's respect and becoming a legend. Popularity is something that brings you many friends, but there are exceptions too.
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In that long run, the Heartbreak Kid made many good friends, but he also had some problems with other wrestlers that he just couldn't stand. Being professional also means working with people you don't like, and that was proven by Shawn Michaels time and time again.
10 Loves: Ric Flair
Shawn Michaels has said multiple times that Ric Flair was the one who inspired him to be a wrestler and the two reunited in WWE earlier this millennium. So, they started working together and became close friends, it is obvious that Flair helped HBK a lot to grow in the company.
The retirement match of "The Dirtiest Player In The Game" was precisely against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24 - "The Biggest WrestleMania Under The Sun", in which HBK defeated Flair in a very sentimental meeting for both.
9 Couldn’t Stand: Hulk Hogan
Curiously, Shawn Michaels is friends with a legend like Ric Flair but at the same time, he doesn't like another legend like Hulk Hogan, because there is always an opposite side of the coin.
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It has become clear that they participated in the same match out of obligation, but both preferred not to have to face each other. As proof of their enmity, Hulk Hogan refused to lose a match to Shawn Michaels, so HBK mocked his signature moves at SummerSlam 2005.
8 Loves: Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels are friends, but it was not always that way.
In the 1990s, Austin was moving to the top in his career, and the egocentric Shawn Michaels seemed as if he was going to refuse to lose the WWE Championship against Austin, but he could not oppose industry plans. However, he later said in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he was always going to drop the gold to The Texas Rattlesnake, but he wanted to "make everybody sweat it and think that I wasn't going to."
Despite all that, "Mr. WrestleMania" and Stone Cold built a good and lasting friendship. They both respects highly each other and recognize their achievements.
7 Couldn’t Stand: The Rock
Shawn Michaels is probably the wrestler The Rock hates the most due to various reasons. It became known that HBK attempted to slow The Rock's rise to the top of the industry. Bret Hart claims that Michaels would bully The Rock backstage.
Michaels was always self-centered and did not like to share fame with anyone. Another reason for their heat was an incident involving HBK and The Rock's mother back when Michaels worked a show promoted by her in Hawaii.
At least they seem to have gotten over the past and have no problems currently.
6 Loves: Triple H
Most wrestling fans are aware of the very good friendship that exists between Triple H and Shawn Michaels since they are even closer than brothers.
The Game was one of those few people who didn't feel uncomfortable with HBK's personality, and from then on, they protected each other both in the ring and backstage, they were inseparable.
Today, the two are still great friends, you could say that this is a legendary friendship, one of the most loyal in company history.
5 Couldn’t Stand: Kurt Angle
On this occasion, it seems that The Showstopper was annoyed that someone had an ego as big as his, and that is that Kurt Angle, Olympic gold medalist, was also very arrogant. The clash of egos and strict personalities was inevitable.
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In an interview with John Pollock, former WWE writer Alex Greenfield said that HBK came up to the former Olympian with an attitude problem, but Kurt Angle did not tolerate it and threw Michaels around like a "rag doll".
4 Loves: The Undertaker
Certainly, at the end of the last millennium, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker did not get along at all, since The Deadman was very strict and he liked everything to go perfectly. Undertaker acted as boss among the wrestlers, and HBK did not like that.
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However, as early as the 2000s, they made peace and became friends. In fact, The Undertaker was the one who faced Michaels in his retirement match at WrestleMania XXVI. Although since then Michaels came back and had one more match in 2018.
3 Couldn’t Stand: Dean Douglas
Shawn Michaels and Dean Douglas never got along; they were just incompatible with each other. It's no secret that HBK didn't like working with people he didn't like and this was one of those cases.
Douglas was scheduled to face and defeat Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Title at In Your House 4, but HBK refused to do so. However, as a result of HBK's vacating the IC Title, the gold was awarded to Douglas who immediately dropped it to Razor Ramon. HBK called Douglas, "A dirt sheet hero. They built him like he was the second coming, but he had little talent."
2 Loves: Road Dogg
This friendship between “Mr. Wrestlemania” and Road Dogg did not emerge in the ring when they were both wrestlers, but years later when both retired from the ring, they began to work together in the production of NXT.
Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, and Triple H became something like the three musketeers working for the benefit of the industry. Michaels is a trainer and backstage helper; Road Dogg is a road agent and Triple H is On-Air Official.
Of course, being part of D-Generation X encourages comradery among all three men.
1 Couldn’t stand: Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette is not exactly that type of person who keeps silent, rather it is the opposite because he has always been a loudmouth and never backs down when he has a position on something. Once again, the personality of Shawn Michaels made an enemy.
According to Cornette, Michaels was an arrogant, brash, and downright disrespectful person, and even though HBK changed, Jim does not forget and does not forgive Michaels' actions.
NEXT: 5 AEW Stars Jim Cornette Hates (& 5 He Actually Likes)
