abstract
| - Michael Shawn Higgenbottom is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Shawn Michaels. He currently performs on the RAW brand and is the reigning World Heavyweight Champion, in his first reign. He is also the inaugural champion. Michaels made his debut for Mid-South Wrestling in 1984 and would form the tag team The Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty in the American Wrestling Association in 1985. After winning the AWA Tag Team Championship twice, the team continued to the WWF as The Rockers, and had a high-profile breakup in January 1992. Within the year, Michaels would twice challenge for the WWF Championship and win his first WWF Intercontinental Championship, heralding his arrival as one of the industry's premier singles stars. He was one of the WWF's top stars from 1992 through 1998, headlining multiple pay-per-view events. He was the founder and original leader of the revolutionary D-Generation X stable, and is considered one of the wrestlers who began the Attitude Era within WWE. After sustaining a severe back injury in January 1998, Michaels would briefly retire from the ring, though would still occasionally make appearances on WWF programming in non-wrestling roles through the year 2000. He would also found and operate the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy from 1999 to 2002, before coming out of retirement in 2002. Michaels is a four-time world champion, having previously held the WWE Championship three times, including his current reign as World Heavyweight Champion. He is also a former Intercontinental, Tag Team, and European champion, as well as a two-time Royal Rumble winner, winning the match in both 1995 and 1996. He is also WWE's first Grand Slam Champion.
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