Shawn Michaels Bio Series - Early Years

by Jack Windham
April 8, 2008

Growing up, Shawn Michaels was the baby boy, an army brat, a star athlete, and an ethusiastic wrestling trainee.

Before Wrestling

Before there was "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, there was Michael Hickenbottom.

That was Shawn Michaels' birth name.

Shawn Michaels was born in 1965 as the youngest baby boy in his family. He had two older brothers and an older sister.

His father was in the military, so he moved around a lot.

He was born in Arizona, but was raised in Texas. Shawn Michaels also spent a bit of time in England during his childhood.

Football was Shawn Michaels' first love. He started playing when he was just 6 years old. By the time he was in high school, Shawn Michaels was the team captain and starting linebacker for his team.

He tried college for a little bit, but decided to drop out soon after.

The Learning Years

Shawn Michaels knew he needed to find something else. That something else ended up being professional wrestling.

He had grown up as a wrestling fan, and that passion helped him as he started training to become a professional wrestler.

Jose Lothario was a star in the NWA and Mexico. He would be chosen as Shawn Michaels' trainer.

If you've ever questioned Jose Lothario's abilities because you've only heard of him training Shawn Michaels, then you need to open up the history books.

He also trained Gino Hernandez, who would go on to WCCW and become one of the best young heels in the country before his untimely death.

Shawn Michaels made his name as a tag team wrestler when he first started out. That proved to be a pretty good career choice.

Early in his career, he teamed up with Marty Jannetty (who we all know from their days together as the Rockers) and Paul Diamond.

He worked through various wrestling promotions in Texas and in the mid south, including stints in WCCW and working for Chavo Guerrero Sr.

Shawn Michaels achieved a level of success in the territories, winning a couple of tag team championships.

What makes this even more impressive was that he was doing all of this before he was legally allowed to drink alcohol.

While most people were in college or still living at home, Shawn Michaels was finding success in the wrestling business.

It was enough sucess for him to catch the attention of the AWA.

...TO BE CONTINUED