Even though I don’t care for him personally, even I have to admit that Shawn Michaels is one of the best to ever lace up a pair of wrestling boots. It’s crazy to think he now more looks like Popeye than a sex symbol, but we all get older Khan and all that. Today, let’s go back to the early days of his career as he was an up and comer in World Class Championship Wrestling.
Heck, this was before he even knew how to spell his name correctly!
His opponent would be the One Man Gang, hailing straight out of Chicago, Illinois. I’d make a joke about how he also didn’t know what HIS name was either, but let’s all just nod our heads and agree that Gang was a far better character than Akeem and move on with our lives, k?
The bell rings and Shawn does his best to try to stay out of harm’s way. That doesn’t last long of course as Gang bulls him into the corner and starts a clubberin’ with wreckless abandon. Maybe he was offended by Shawn’s way too tight gear, I dunno.
Gang follows up the pounding by giving Shawn a GIANT wedgie and tossing him out of the ring. He then goes up to the second rope and for a split second I pondered if the big guy may decide to leap down to the floor. As if. This was the 80’s after all, ain’t no big guys doing that!
Gang brings Shawn back up to the apron and lays him up against the rope for a forearm. He then nearly decapitates him with a clothesline. In what must have been a thrill for the ladies in the front row, Shawn’s gear is so thin that you can tell what religion he is. Come on dude, wear a jock strap or something.
It doesn’t take long for Gang to decide that play time is over, crushing Michaels with a massive powerslam and following that up with a flying splash. The three count is academic of course. Both these guys would wind up in the WWF and would again be on opposing sides of the ring at WrestleMania V, this time was Shawn tagging with Marty Janetty in the Rockers and Gang with the Big Bossman as the Twin Towers…and Shawn would lose AGAIN to Gang! Some guys just have your number, and in this case it would be 747!