This past week on WWE Monday Night RAW, it suddenly stuck me - "Wow, I really will miss Shawn Michaels when he retires from professional wrestling." I had never really given it much thought up until now but having also spied on a shelf in my bedroom this very afternoon a VHS tape known as “A Video Tribute To: Shawn Michaels! Best Hits From The Heartbreak Kid!” that thought came to me. I decided to hook my old VHS player up to my TV and slot this tape in to have a look. The simply stellar ladder match the man had with Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Title from Summerslam 1995 is present. As are scraps against Yokozuna, Owen Hart and Tatanka. There is also the gem of a bunch of highlights of Shawn winning the 1996 Royal Rumble bout.

The one thing that grabbed my attention here was that none of the above matches are bad, at all. In fact, most of the action is pretty good! I cannot recall off the top of my head the last match which included Shawn Michaels which I decreed as being 'bad'. The guy has even carried Chris Masters to watchable fare! (ZING!)

The segments from this past Mondays WWE broadcast may have been tongue-in-cheek and rather throwaway but it did outline one fact I really am kinda worried about. World Wrestling Entertainment really will miss Mr. Wrestlemania when he decides to hang up the leather chaps. His world class performances are stuff of legend in the wrestling industry. I have not laughed so heartily at wrestling as I did when watching those promos on RAW in which we saw Michaels superkick a young girl for complaining about his cooking. The timing, the comedy, the presence..

That word right there, presence, would sum up exactly what Shawn Michaels possesses in abundance. He demands attention every time he steps out from behind the curtain, every time he so much as opens his mouth, every time he leaps to his feet from his back and engages the crowd. He always has and so long as he's in the pro wrestling game, he always will. Like I said, is there really one HBK bout any fair minded person can remember off hand which stunk up an arena or made them change the channel? If there is, I sure haven't seen it! The man is the true definition of “WWE Superstar” in these eyes.

We all know the story. Young and athletically gifted Shawn Michaels debuted in the World Wrestling Federation as a part of the fresh-faced, high-flying tag team “The Rockers” with Marty Jannetty. I can imagine that it was clear to many a person back in those days that if one of these boys was to make it big, it would be Michaels. After a number of years, he soon ditched Jannetty (which saw the downward spiral of poor Marty's career begin) and became the flamboyant and cocky “Sexy boy”. Loathed by the dudes in the WWF audiences and adored by the females, it was only a matter of time before “The Heartbreak Kid” went onto become a huge star in the business. However, I really do doubt that few could have predicted just how much of a star he would eventually become.

In the mid-90's and for almost the rest of that decade, Shawn Michaels was one of the top professional wrestling performers going and proved this by delivering in big match after big match. After a number of years of being a cocky heel, the 'Boy Toy' became the cocky babyface and thus shot further up the ladder of success. I'm sure one of his most coveted moments would be his win over Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12 for the WWF World Heavyweight Title in a 60-minute Iron Man Match. HBK hung around towards the upper half of the WWF cards until early 1998 when a crippling back injury would force what seemed to be the end of his career. He bowed out in spectacular style, putting over one “Stone Cold” Steve Austin for the WWF strap at Wrestlemania 14 and ushering in the much-acclaimed 'Austin era'. That seemed to be that for Shawn Michaels career, his back seemingly unwilling to allow him to not only compete at a high level, but to compete at all.

No-one could have predicted, least of all Shawn himself, that when he made his much anticipated in-ring return to face off in a street fight against Triple H at Summerslam 2002 – he would hang around until 2009! At least! The 'main event' looked great in his return bout and proved he could still hang with the big boys. Over 4 years removed from his last high profile match, Michaels (with a big helping hand from Triple H) delivered a classic brawl which had people on the edge of their seats. Since then, he hasn't looked back and has continued to put on fantastic Pay-Per-View contests which have invariably been met with high critical acclaim again and again.

We need look no further than this past spring. WWE Wrestlemania 25, 11 years after everyone thought his career had come to an end! On this night Shawn Michaels battled The Undertaker in what will surely go down as one of the most dramatic and exciting Wrestlemania matches of all time. I would go so far as to say it would enter into the top 5 of any “Top 'Mania Matches' list. It truly was a spectacle, one which gave me goosebumps upon watching it again a few days ago in preparation for this article. Both Michaels and The Undertaker have been 2 of the top stars in the WWF/WWE since the early 1990's and it really was a privilege to see them lock horns and go at it so feverishly, long after both men have waved goodbye to their prime years.

There are heavy rumors that “The Heartbreak Kid” will indeed retire following Wrestlemania 26 early next year. If this is the case, he can close the curtain on what has been one of the most outstanding careers in all of wrestling history. There is not a whole lot left for Shawn to do, if anything at all. I sincerely hope he gets the retirement his career deserves. Over the top, dramatic and above all else – the 'main event'. TAKE IT HOME!