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A&E/WWE ‘Biography’: A paint-by-numbers portrait of Shawn Michaels’ career

Posted by Dave Hillhouse | May 16, 2021

Tonight’s episode of Biography , featuring Shawn Michaels (and strangely booked up against WWE’s own WresleMania Backlash), provides a quick look at the main points of his long career, meaning that nothing is delved into too deeply. It’s a fine, dutifully told story, but you won’t get much new out of it if you’re already a fan. On the other hand, if you are new to Shawn Michaels, then consider it as an HBK History 101 course.

Michaels himself gets the most airtime to discuss his career, with clear-cut supporting roles given to Triple H and Marty Jannetty, but among the first to speak through archival footage are his parents, Carole and Dick Hickenbottom. Along with his childhood friend Kenny Kent, filmed in the present, they talk about Shawn’s youth as Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, loving contact sports and finding wrestling on TV — immediately deciding that it was his future.

His parents ushered him into college, but Michaels insisted that he knew what he wanted: to wrestle. He connected with Jose Lothario to start his training and the show quickly moves to teaming up with Marty Jannetty. With AWA Championship Wrestling filming matches for TV in Las Vegas in 1986, Michaels hits a jackpot on the slots and laughs about taking his first line of blow, all in the same night. A throwaway line by Curt Hennig about how Michaels and Jannetty didn’t start partying until midnight inspires the name of The Midnight Rockers.

The history is moving by so quickly, because admittedly there’s a lot to tell, so we go quickly to 1987 when they get the call to head to the WWF. Michaels breaks down the accepted version of the story, incorrect in his words, that an incident at a bar with the WWF wrestlers cost them their jobs. He insists that the legend, that they started a ruckus in a Buffalo bar, has been blown up over time, and that because of this, they were gone in one day. Bruce Prichard appears to suggest how unfortunate it was that hearsay cost them their jobs.

You can’t argue against the details of what happened in a bar in 1987 — was it a mild event or a big dust-up — but Michaels and Prichard both stress the point that The Rockers were done with the WWF after one day, and that ‘s not true, although clearly more dramatic. Michaels details his reliance on cocaine in the time after being fired, and how he and Jannetty worked to get Vince McMahon’s attention again. Pat Patterson pushed on their behalf, and the duo got their second chance in the WWF.

Soon, we’re at Saturday Night’s Main Event, featuring The Hart Foundation versus The Rockers, where Michaels and Jannetty were booked to win the tag titles. One of the top ropes broke off during the match, and Bret Hart talks about how they knew the match was taped and they’d be able to fix the rope and edit the match together, but the teams were told to just finish the match.

They finished and won the belts, with both teams hamstrung by the broken rope and failing to put on a memorable match. It never made it to air, so the titles never went to The Rockers for anyone not in attendance that night. This story is nothing new, but it’s nice to see Hart and Michaels on the same side of an issue … for now.

Michaels looks back upon his career in a still from Biography . Photo: WWE

Blurring the lines, as always, between real life and wrestling storytelling, Jannetty tells of a time that Roddy Piper spoke to them backstage and was pumping Shawn up for a singles run, while saying to Jannetty that he had work to do still. Jannetty recalls saying to Piper that this wasn’t the best time to talk about that, at which point Michaels shoves his partner and a fight breaks out. Michaels corroborates it, but it leads directly to WWF programming talking about trouble brewing between The Rockers.

It all comes to a head on the Barbershop and the superkick heard around the world. Michaels says he was both nervous and primed to set out on his own. For the second week in a row in the Biography series, Sherri Martel gets the short-shrift. With both Booker T and Michaels, she appears on screen but her part isn’t told.

Skip ahead again to Michaels’ Intercontinental Champion days, as he beats The British Bulldog for the title, is suspended for steroid usage but refuses to relinquish the belt, and essentially makes his name as Mr. WrestleMania in the ladder match against Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X. Quickly moving on now, Triple H sets up a joke: Shawn Michaels, British Bulldog, and The 1-2-3 Kid walk into a bar.

It’s no joke, of course; this is where Michaels throws some attitude at a group of marines and is beaten up out in the parking lot. Is it nine marines, as told by Michaels on a WWF programming clip? Was it six marines, as told by Triple H? I think I’ve heard the number seven more than any other number, but it’s not all that important. Hart talks about giving and taking a lot of stiff shots during the Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII, while Michaels says the feeling of winning wasn’t what he thought it would be.

Mani Mohtadi tells of going to a WWF house show on May 19, 1996, and filming the infamous clip of The Kliq’s curtain call. Heels and babyfaces had been caught being friendly before, of course, but this was shocking to see because it was in the ring and in front of the fans, and especially because it was caught by Mohtadi on camera and the footage was passed around. We get a fleeting glimpse at Michaels being told by Dr. James Andrews that he had torn his ACL and wouldn’t be able to wrestle again, and announcing his retirement, famously punctuating the speech by claiming he had lost his smile. Hart gives his opinion that he never believed the injury was real, and when Michaels returns and forms DX with Triple H, the tension between Hart and Michaels reaches its boiling point at Survivor Series in 1997.

The events, which are going to be covered in detail in Bret Hart’s episode of Biography coming up on June 6th, are told in brief as The Montreal Screwjob unfolds.  Even though the story is so well-known by this point, it is told here in such vague details that it’s hard to imagine someone who doesn’t know the story having any idea what’s going on. Now we’re at the Royal Rumble in 1997 where Michaels hurt his back after landing on the casket outside of the ring. Going into WrestleMania XIV, he was hurt and mad at his impending retirement due to the injury. Mike Tyson makes an appearance, but pretty well keeps to kayfabe.

Michaels leads us through his time at home out of wrestling. He opens up the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy and notes that there were “a couple of guys” that went on to have success — it shows, but doesn’t name, Bryan Danielson, Lance Cade, and Brian Kendrick. Instead, Michaels recounts seeing Nitro Girl Whisper on WCW Nitro, who would became Rebecca Hickenbottom, marrying Michaels not long afterwards.

Rebecca discusses facing the reality of Michaels’ fight against his addictions, and Michaels himself coming to grips with the growing realization that his son Cameron, at two years old, was starting to recognize the times when “Daddy’s tired.” He up and quits drugs and drinking and, after a gift of a Bible from Rebecca, joins a Bible study group.

Rebecca identifies the overnight healing of Michaels’ back as a miracle, and so we’re back in the ring for his SummerSlam 2002 match against Triple H. We don’t hear any juicy gossip on the awkward haircut he had for winning the World Heavyweight Championship in the Elimination Chamber, so we move ahead through the Ric Flair retirement match, skip Michaels’ Hall of Fame induction altogether and, not surprisingly, Saudi Arabia and the DX versus Brothers of Destruction match is not mentioned.

We watch the truce between Hart and Michaels, and finally Michaels’ retirement match loss against The Undertaker. The coda is seeing Michaels backstage at NXT with the young crew, especially Adam Cole, paying tribute to him.

It feels like a very quick two hours, because everything is told at breakneck speed. I wouldn’t say that you’re going to come out of this with any clearer idea of who Shawn Michaels is than what any previous documentary of his life story has provided. The best audience for this is simply someone who wants to walk — or maybe run — down memory lane.

RELATED LINK

• Shawn Michaels story archive
• Read more in Slam Wrestling’s Hollywood Headlock

About The Author

Dave Hillhouse

Dave Hillhouse started writing for Slam Wrestling in 2005. His first taste of writing about wrestling was doing work for Burlington, Ontario’s Renegade Wrestling Alliance – and a lot of posting on AOL message boards. He enjoys exploring the quirky side of pro wrestling, and luckily there's no shortage of material. Much of his writing focuses on the connections between wrestling and film, TV, documentary, and more. In his off-time, he runs the Great Wrestling Tournaments fantasy voting page (click on the Facebook logo below to visit). Feel free to drop him a line (especially if you have some info about upcoming productions with a wrestling connection) at [email protected] .

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10 Wrestlers Who Elevated A Midcard Championship To A Main Event Level

Big poppa pump: 10 hilarious scott steiner quotes, 10 best wcw tag team feuds, ranked.

Since his earliest days in Mid-South and the AWA, it was clear that Shawn Michaels had tremendous ability in the ring. But with The Heartbreak Kid’s ability came a wild and rambunctious and sometimes tortured soul. A&E took a look at the life of one of the top five greatest wrestlers ever in their most recent Biography special.

Related: 10 Ways Shawn Michaels Failed WWE

One of the great aspects of the A&E and WWE partnership is that even for the most ardent fan that thinks they know the whole story about their favorite wrestlers, there’s also plenty of nuggets in each episode that have seldom if ever been told. Shawn knows his life is an open book, but here are a few items you might have never known.

10 The Two Lives Of Shawn Michaels

Right from the get-go of the episode, the reoccurring theme of the entire biography was not just the idea but the incontrovertible fact that yes he might be the best ever in a wrestling ring. But the first half of his career, Shawn was a wild man chasing glory and redefining greatness, no matter the cost of his personal life. No matter the amount of booze, pills, and brash braggadocios, Shawn was going to show the world he was the best. The inverse side to that is that everyone from Vince McMahon on down the line was ready to beat the heck out of the guy.

9 Shawn In NXT

It’s been long known that Shawn Michaels has been keeping Triple H company down in NXT. But he’s so much more than just a right-hand man. Much of the entire NXT roster was influenced by The Heartbreak Kid at some point in their fandom and their own careers.

Related: 10 Most Brutal Bumps Of Shawn Michaels' Career

But now, a very humble HBK is happy to take a huge step back and simply help groom the talent for the next generation. Terry Taylor put it bluntly - “there’s Shawn’s fingerprints on almost every talent in NXT.”

8 Beginnings

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom was born into a military family. His dad was a member of the US Air Force. The family moved all over until Shawn was about eight and settled in Texas. His folks described him as a nice boy, and Shawn described all of the sports he enjoyed playing, particularly football. But like a lot of future Superstars, when Shawn first saw wrestling on TV, his dad just assumed it would be a phase that he’d grow out of. Thankfully for wrestling fans, he hasn’t grown out of that phase yet.

7 High School Bumps

Shawn didn’t have a lot of fellow wrestling fans growing up until Kenny Kent moved to town during their sophomore year. They instantly became fast friends who put on wrestling matches. Like Mick Foley and many others before him, the future HBK and Kenny put on all sorts of matches everywhere. The two even wrestled a match for their high school talent show, which they lost out to cheerleaders.

Despite his parents wanting him to go to college, Shawn was deadset on becoming a professional wrestler. Through his father, Michaels met the wrestling promoter of San Antonio, as well as Jose Lothario. Not wanting his son to be 35-years-old and resentful that he missed his opportunity, Mr. Hickenbottom paid for Shawn’s entry into wrestling school. Later on, it would be Kent and his happy family life that Shawn admired but wondered if he was able to have both a great family and a great career.

6 Starting Out

Thanks to Jose Lothario’s training and his help, the legendary Luchador was able to get HBK his first bookings in Mid-South. Terry Taylor was amazed at how good Michaels was  in his first match. A little later on, Bill Watts, the head of Mid-South was able to book HBK in Louisiana, where he first met Marty Jannetty. They got thrown together for a match and immediately clicked.

Interestingly enough, it was Marty who first really saw something in Shawn and vowed to bring it out. It wasn’t just wrestling ability that Marty brought out, he also introduced Shawn to partying, and The Midnight Rockers were born. They also developed a reputation for being huge party kids; which everyone in the business instantly knew they got.

5 The Rockers' First WWE Run

After getting their start in late 1987, The Rockers wanted to behave. But Terry Garvin had suggested to them that they need to get down and mingle. Jimmy Jack Funk tried to test the boys and started chewing glass for some reason.

Related: 10 Things About Shawn Michaels Career That Made No Sense

In retaliation, Michaels smashed a wine glass over his head and the team left. But the rumor and innuendo immediately started and The Rockers were fired after just one day. Michaels at 23 thought he was done. Thankfully, Pat Patterson took a liking to the team, recognized the talent of HBK, and helped bring them back to the WWE.

4 The Heartbreak Kid

After some backstage egging on by Roddy Piper that he should be a singles wrestler , the seeds were laid for the iconic Barber Shop segment where he became The Heartbreak Kid. The character was something that Shawn had come up with - Elvis meets Freddie Mercury. Shawn actually alluded to the idea that those two rock gods were electric on stage but had something missing in their lives, something that he was able to relate to. But he was determined to crack through the glass ceiling and be the guy.

3 Keeping Shawn Alive

The extent to which Triple H needs to be praised for keeping HBK alive is immeasurable. He would make sure HBK was in bed every night with a pillow propped alongside him to make sure that he wouldn’t roll over in his sleep and choke to death. Even Vince tried to step in and get help for his greatest performer. He headed to Texas to meet with Shawn’s dad and clue him into the situation, which unfortunately the colonel didn’t know or want to hear anything about.

It was then that he tweaked his knee and was told he was done. HBK lost his smile and vacated the WWE Title . Shortly after, Triple H and Shawn would start pestering Vince to put them together and thanks to the back injury that happened at Royal Rumble , Shawn was pumped up with more drugs just to get to WrestleMania XIV with Austin.

2 Finally Getting Help

While sitting home watching Nitro , Shawn first laid eyes on Nitro Girl, Whisper aka Rebecca. They began talking on the phone and exchanging emails. They would date for several weeks before getting married by an Elvis impersonator. The new Mrs. Michaels learned quickly that Shawn had a huge problem with pills, but she did not give up on him. Hunter did, thanks to Shawn showing up at Raw messed up and belligerent.

Related: Shawn Michaels' Last 10 Rivalries, Ranked From Worst To Best

The two founders of DX had then stopped speaking for several years. But it was when Shawn’s son, Cameron began to realize what was happening with Shawn, that The Heartbreak Kid decided to stop with all of the drugs and alcohol. Kevin Nash would initiate Shawn apologizing to The Game. Rebecca had given him a bible for Christmas and Shawn then decided to join a bible study and get saved and was on the road to come back to the ring.

1 The End For HBK

After wrestling his final matches, including his love letter to the business and Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV , Shawn Michaels would retire after WrestleMania XXVI . But before retiring, HBK made sure to make amends with Bret Hart, who admitted that they carried a lot of animosity towards each other. Before that had happened, the instant classic between Shawn and The Undertaker from WrestleMania XXV would happen. Heading home that night, Shawn began to think that he wasn’t ever going to achieve that level of greatness ever again and began to realize that he would wind down his career as one of the greatest of all time.

Next: 10 Shawn Michaels' Rivalries We Completely Forgot About 

• Shawn Michaels

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Sneak Peek Of ‘A&E Biography: WWE Legends’ Documentary On Shawn Michaels Ahead Of Sunday’s Premiere (Video)

• By Matt Boone
• May 10, 2021

“The Heartbreak Kid” will be the next legend featured in the ongoing Biography: WWE Legends docu-series on A&E.

Following Sunday night’s new episode on Booker T, the show is scheduled to return with episode five focusing on WWE Hall Of Fame legend Shawn Michaels.

Episode five of the eight-part series featuring HBK is scheduled to premiere this coming Sunday night, May 16, 2021 at 8/7c.

Ahead of the return of the A&E Biography: WWE Legends docu-series this Sunday evening, WWE has released a sneak peek of the episode featuring “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels.

Watch the official trailer for the fifth installment of the new eight-part A&E Biography: WWE Legends docu-series via the video embedded below courtesy of WWE’s YouTube channel.

A&E’s Original Biography Shawn Michaels this Sunday 8/7c on A&E A&E’s Original Biography Shawn Michaels this Sunday 8/7c on A&E.

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Shawn Michaels

Who Is Shawn Michaels?

Growing up in a military family, Shawn Michaels moved around frequently before settling in San Antonio, Texas. Although his high school didn’t have a wrestling team, Michaels decided at 12 years old that he wanted to be a professional wrestler. After later dropping out of Southwest Texas State University, he made his professional wrestling debut in October 1984. He and tag team partner Marty Jannetty wrestled as The Midnight Rockers in the AWA before joining the now WWE as The Rockers. The duo parted ways in 1992, and Michaels took on the “Heartbreak Kid” persona, competing until he suffered a serious back injury in 1998. Following four years in retirement, Michaels returned to the WWE in 2002 and continued to wrestle until 2010. The WWE Hall of Famer has a wife named Rebecca, with whom he shares two children.

Born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965, Michaels is the son of Dick and Carol Hickenbottom. Because Michaels’ father was an Air Force pilot, he spent his childhood moving from the United Kingdom to Maryland, before settling in San Antonio, Texas when he was about 8 years old. His parents described him as a well-loved, quiet and shy boy, who was heavily involved in sports, including football. Michaels recalls deciding he wanted to be a professional wrestler someday when he was 12, though his high school didn’t have a wrestling team. His father was an amateur wrestler at the University of Iowa, and he also grew up idolizing such pros as Ric Flair.

Michaels attended Southwest Texas State University but dropped out after failing his second semester.

Pro Wrestling Career

The rockers.

Michaels began training with Mexican wrestler Jose Lothario in 1983, and before making his pro debut with the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Mid-South Wrestling territory in October 1984. He later joined with tag team partner Marty Jannetty to form The Midnight Rockers, and they won their first American Wrestling Association (AWA) world championship in 1986. Renamed The Rockers in 1987, Michaels and Jannetty joined and were fired from the WWE in 1987 after just one day following a Buffalo, New York bar fight.

After their WWE dismissal, the duo joined Continental Championship Wrestling (CCW) in Birmingham, Alabama, where Michaels says they wrestled in front of 25 people for $300 per week. The WWE rehired The Rockers in 1988 on a probationary basis, and they won the later-rescinded Tag Team Championship in October 1990. (The WWE never aired their championship match against Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart because a top rope had broken mid-event.)

Michaels ended his and Jannetty’s partnership by smashing his partner’s head through a window during a 1992 episode of Brutus Beefcake's talk show. The breakup marked the beginning of Michaels’ villain persona.

'Heartbreak Kid'

As the vain and arrogant Heartbreak Kid, Michaels, who described his character as “sort of an Elvis meets Freddie Mercury ,” won the Intercontinental Championship before he was suspended for testing positive for steroids. Michaels unsuccessfully attempted to reclaim the title in 1994 during a famous ladder match with Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X.

After meeting him in a locker room in 1993, Michaels recruited Kevin Nash to take on the role of his bodyguard and eventually won his first world championship at WrestleMania XII in March 1996. Michaels and Nash also became part of “The Kliq,” along with Scott Hall, Sean Waltman and Paul Michael “Triple H” Levesque. He announced in February 1997 that he was retiring due to a knee issue, but decided to return to action several months later.

Upon his return, Michaels formed Generation X with Triple H and Chyna. His intensifying feud with Bret “Hit Man” Hart reached its peak in what became known as the “Montreal Screwjob” of the 1997 Survivor Series, which was also Hart’s final WWE match before leaving the company. During a January 1998 Royal Rumble match with The Undertaker, Michaels blew a disc in his back, and a doctor told him he’d never wrestle again. He recalls asking for enough drugs to get him to his final WrestleMania XIV match with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin .

WWE Return and Retirement

After battling drug and alcohol addiction for about a decade, Michaels started a family in San Antonio, got sober, and found religion. More than four years into his retirement, Michaels says he prayed his back pain away, and returned to professional wrestling at SummerSlam 2002 in a match with Triple H. He went on to wrestle for eight more years before a final watch with The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI in March 2010.

Since retiring from the ring, Michaels has served as a key contributor to NXT, which he says began as a developmental brand that grooms WWE superstars.

Personal Life

After seeing her on TV as a WCW “Nitro Girl” named Whisper in June 1998, Michaels pursued now-wife Rebecca Curci Hickenbottom. The pair dated for just several weeks before marrying at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. They are parents to a son, Cameron, and daughter, Cheyenne.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1965
• Birth date: July 22, 1965
• Best Known For: Shawn Michaels is one of WWE’s greatest performers and most enduring villains. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Shawn Michaels Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/athletes/shawn-michaels
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: June 7, 2021
• Original Published Date: March 17, 2021

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A&e biography – mick foley: what we learned.

• May 31, 2021

Eric E. Jenkins

The A&E Network series Biography is featuring a number of professional wrestlers on its show. This week, the featured wrestler was the “Hardcore Legend”, Mick Foley . Foley went from filming matches in his backyard to becoming the WWF ( WWE ) World Champion. However, there is much that is not known about Mick. This week, viewers learned a lot more about “Mrs Foley’s Baby Boy.” Let’s go through some!

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/1399458826659696651

The “most un-athletic wrestler ever” was a very athletic young man

Mick Foley was a three-sport athlete in high school. As a young man, Mick competed in football, basketball and lacrosse.

Mick Foley had a famous childhood friend

Few knew that Mick Foley was a longtime friend of Brian Hildebrand, who would become referee Mark Curtis. However, King of Queens star Kevin James was a high school wrestling teammate and childhood friend of Mick Foley.

Foley just wanted to have fun

After discovering professional wrestling, Mick and his friends filmed matches in Mick’s backyard just for fun. In addition, Mick made jokes about himself to people in school. This was so that the kids in school would not make fun of him. One night, after walking a girl home from a date, the girl mistakenly called him “Frank”. Mick went home and wrote the script to The Legend of Frank Foley . Foley created the Dude Love character for the film, and Mick’s legendary roof dive was the finale scene of the movie.

The Madison Square Garden story is true

The story of Mick Foley attending the MSG show where Jimmy Snuka dived off of a cage onto Don Muraco is true. Foley made the decision to become a wrestler after seeing that match. Mick’s friends thought that he was crazy, but his parents supported his decision. However, Mick had to agree to complete college. Mick worked independent shows on weekends while finishing college.

Blame Dude Love for Cactus Jack

When Mick started his wrestling career, he did not believe that he was talented enough to perform as Dude Love. Therefore, he created Cactus Jack , a character with a “vanilla” name.

Mick Foley can thank Dave Meltzer for his big break

Following a match on an independent show, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter characterized Mick Foley as “as good as any indy wrestler in the country”. Mick received offers from three different larger promotions due to this write-up. Initially, Mick signed with CWA in Memphis before making his way to World Class Championship Wrestling .

Remember this: High Pain Threshold, Not a Masochist

During the airing of Biography , Mick stated that he does not necessarily enjoy pain. He feels that he has a better hold over it than most others. On the other hand, if he liked how a move looked in the ring, Mick often wondered how it would look on the floor.

Thank Robert Fuller for Cactus’ name change

Initially, Mick wrestled as Cactus Jack Foley, but Robert Fuller told Mick that he looked a bit like Charles Manson. When Mick entered WCCW, he changed his ring name to Cactus Jack Manson. Mick presented the character in a slightly more deranged way, and he became a top heel in World Class. World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) took an interest in Foley because of his work as Manson.

An accident made Mick Foley famous

Prior to starting in WCW, an automobile accident cost Mick his two front teeth. When he arrived in WCW, Jim Ross liked Mick’s look with the missing teeth, and this became another gimmick layer for Cactus Jack.

WCW liked him, then they didn’t, then they did

WCW liked Mick Foley because he always had ideas for his character. The company felt that other wrestlers stood around waiting to be told what to do. However, WCW brass weren’t really fans of his style. Mick went back to the indies, with a mind on stealing the show every night. As he started creating more buzz, WCW offered Foley another chance to work in the promotion.

Mick Foley saw the ear match as a money maker

Following the match in Germany against Vader where Mick lost a piece of his ear, Mick had big ideas for the follow-up. On the way to the hospital, instead of thinking about the pain, Mick was thinking of promos that he could cut the next time that he was on television. Foley felt that the ear loss could lead to a year-long program with Vader. Eric Bischoff , however, was not interested in this angle. Bischoff felt that Mick’s style was a liability to the company.

Appreciation is worth more than money

Mick Foley left WCW because he didn’t feel appreciated. Though he had a 6-figure income, Foley went to IWA in Japan, feeling that he would be respected. Mick claimed that he performed in death matches because he was good at them.

Visions of Dewey being caned made Mick Foley a bigger star

At an Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) show, a “Cane Dewey” sign upset Mick’s wife Collette. The sign was made with Mick’s permission. Mick was able to channel Collette’s feelings into a new character. Mick turned heel in ECW by creating an anti-hardcore gimmick. The anti-hardcore promos were some of Mick’s very best work, and some in WWE became interested in Foley.

Vince was initially not a believer

Jim Ross and Bruce Prichard wanted to sign Mick but not Vince. Vince signed Foley so that Ross could be proved wrong.

HBK and Bruce Prichard  brought Dude Love to WWE

Following a PPV main event match against Shawn Michaels , HBK asked Mick if Mick was content with his career. Bruce Prichard heard Mick mentioning initially wanting to work as Dude Love in order to get reactions like Shawn’s. Prichard asked to see some of Dude Love’s work, and Bruce convinced Vince to give the character a try.

The more Mick Foley, the better

Vince did not think that Mick Foley would ever be a top talent. However, the fan reaction to the “Three Faces of Foley” showed Vince that Mick could get over.

Undertaker feared for Foley’s life

The Undertaker did not want to throw Mick off of the cage in their legendary Hell in the Cell match. Mick wanted to outdo Taker’s cell match against Shawn Michaels. After Mick fell off of – and then through – the cell, Taker tried to talk Foley out of using the tacks, feeling that Mick had given enough. After the match, Mick Foley asked if Taker was hurting.

Mr. Socko was the final missing piece

Feeling that the Mankind character was missing something, Mick introduced Mr Socko. Socko helped push Mick to another level, and the bestselling book took his career even higher.

The period after retirement was the hardest

After retiring from professional wrestling, Mick was not sure what to do next. Foley worked as a crisis counselor, but after a while, he returned to wrestling. Mick did not enjoy this phase of his career, but he did it for the money. Once he retired again, Mick turned to stand-up comedy so that he could interact with live crowds.

Mick Foley lived his dream

Foley stated that though he lives in pain, the injuries were a small price to pay. The true prize, according to Mick, was in being able to live out his dreams.

The next episode of A&E’s Biography will chronicle the life and career of Bret “Hitman” Hart .

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SUnknown.EUnknown ∙ Russell Simmons

Sunknown.eunknown ∙ steve martin, sunknown.eunknown ∙ nascar: countdown to sunday, sunknown.eunknown ∙ hairdos and heartache: the women of country music, sunknown.eunknown ∙ barbara hutton.

SUnknown.EUnknown ∙ Dolly Parton

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SUnknown.EUnknown ∙ Ian Fleming

Sunknown.eunknown ∙ jeane dixon, sunknown.eunknown ∙ maria callas, sunknown.eunknown ∙ mikhail baryshnikov.

SUnknown.EUnknown ∙ Theodore J. Kaczynski: The Unabomber

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How To Watch A&E’s ‘Biography: WWE Legends: Bret “Hitman” Hart’ Live

Where to stream:.

• Biography: WWE Legends

Did A&E save their best episode of WWE Legends for last? The final installment of the network’s WWE docuseries centers on the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be: Duke “The Dumpster” Droese.

Wait, no. It’s Bret “Hitman” Hart. But never forget that Droese defeated the future Triple H at the 1996 Royal Rumble.

Directed by George Roy, tonight’s episode explores the life and career of Bret Hart, one of the most accomplished in-ring technicians in professional wrestling history. From his classic WrestleMania bouts with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin to his epic SummerSlam match with Mr. Perfect, the man known as the “Excellence of Execution” never failed to disappoint.

How can you watch Biography:   Bret Hart live on A&E? Here’s everything you need to know.

WHEN DOES THE NEXT EPISODE OF BIOGRAPHY: WWE LEGENDS PREMIERE ON A&E?

The Bret Hart episode of Biography: WWE Legends premieres Sunday, June 6 on A&E.

WHAT TIME DOES BIOGRAPHY: WWE LEGENDS BRET HART START ON A&E?

Biography: Bret Hart airs from 8:00-10:02 p.m. ET on A&E. An encore presentation of the documentary airs Monday, June 7 at 12:04 a.m. ET.

HOW TO WATCH A&E’S BIOGRAPHY: WWE LEGENDS: BRET HART  LIVE ONLINE:

If you have a valid cable login, you can watch Biography: Bret Hart live on A&E’s website or with the A&E app . The special will also be available for next-day streaming on A&E.com .

WHERE TO WATCH BIOGRAPHY: BRET HART:

You can also find an A&E live stream with an active subscription to Hulu + Live TV , Sling TV (Blue) ,  fuboTV , or  Philo . All of the aforementioned services offer A&E in their channel lineups. Free trials of the streaming services are available for new and eligible subscribers.

CAN I WATCH BIOGRAPHY: BRET HART  LIVE ON HULU?

You can’t stream Biography: WWE Legends with a traditional Hulu account, but you can watch the series live or on demand with an active subscription to Hulu + Live TV. Hulu’s live TV service includes an A&E live stream. A seven-day free trial is available for eligible subscribers .

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