In case you’ve seen one Shawn Michaels documentary, you have seen all of them. There was the “Heartbreaks & Triumph” DVD, after which the “My Journey” DVD that got here out after Michaels’s retirement.
The newest entry, “The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels” hits all of the same old beats of HBK’s story, while ping-ponging between his past, and his present, where he coaches and produces the celebs of “WWE NXT.” Michael Hickenbottom discovers territory wrestling at his grandmother’s house, trains, joins the AWA, and eventually leads to WWE with Marty Jannetty. He throws Jannetty through the window of Brutus Beefcake’s “Barber Shop” set after which goes on to singles stardom. He meets Kevin Nash. He forms The Kliq. Nash and Scott Hall leave. Michaels spirals into depression and drug abuse, until the physical toll of wrestling forces him into retirement, sports broadcasting, and the arms of The Lord. He rises from the ashes to turn into a veteran presence through the Ruthless Aggression Era, before retiring in 2010 after a pair of heralded matches with The Undertaker.
Likelihood is good that you simply already know the story, however the documentary does a serviceable job of bringing newbies on top of things, while providing barely enough recent footage — young and old — to make individuals who’ve “been there and done that” not try.
In accordance with this documentary, Shawn Michaels never returned to wrestling, and particularly didn’t wrestle a maligned tag match with Triple H in Saudi Arabia. I’m unsure I can blame WWE for wanting to trim that a part of HBK’s legacy, though I believe the thorough humbling could’ve helped frame Michaels’s later profession as the top of WWE’s NXT developmental show. The footage of him within the Performance Center is fascinating, however it looks like it never quite gels with the teachings of his past the way in which the editing would suggest.
This will not be the very best Shawn Michaels documentary that the corporate has produced. It is just too awash in soulless, corporate doublespeak through the many talking head interviews, and it’s got rather a lot more Pete Rosenberg than I expected. Still, when it gives HBK a likelihood to be vulnerable, or his kids a likelihood to needle him, it’s incredibly sweet, and fans of “NXT” can have a fun time with all the b-roll of the various faces of the brand’s past and present.
“The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels” is now available to stream on Peacock.