WWE Hall Of Famer Opens Up About His Faith On ‘The 700 Club’
By many of his peers, Shawn Michaels is considered to be the greatest professional wrestler of all time. Michaels is a four-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and a member of the WWE Hall of Fame.
However, all the fame and fortune couldn’t fulfill what Shawn Michaels was needing most in his life: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Shawn appeared on a recent episode of The 700 Club where he discusses his faith, as well as his feature film debut with the Resurrection of Gavin Stone.
During the interview, Shawn Michaels was asked about what life was like while being on top of the professional wrestling business:
“I will admit, early when I was younger. I didn’t handle the success very well, I really didn’t. It is the phrase, ‘be careful what you wish for.’ I did not hold up really well, put a lot of pressure on myself, and caused me to get into a lot of trouble. I was very difficult professionally to deal with both personally and professionally. You get into drinking; you get into doing drugs. You get into womanizing, all kinds of different stuff. Just because you are good at something, doesn’t mean you don’t run into problems. It’s very easy to convince yourself that there isn’t a problem, that you are not homeless, or in the streets, still have money in the bank; still have fast cars, so how could that be a bad thing?”
Shawn was later asked about the origins of the character “The Heartbreak Kid.” Michaels stated that Curt Hennig mentioned it to him because it was used in a song. Hennig said it to him one day and when Michaels went on his singles run as a “bad guy,” he remembered that name and it naturally flowed, and if you say it enough, it eventually becomes a thing.
The conversation then turned to his brokenness that led Shawn to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior:
“It was a combination with the prayers of my wife. I met her and everything happened very quickly. We got married and started a family. After holding that little boy and realizing that the only way he was going to turn into a decent man was to see it in his dad, so it took two years after holding him; during which I was not in great shape. One day while I was passed out, I overheard him say, ‘daddy’s tired.’ It dawned on me that he is beginning to see it now, and I couldn’t raise my baby that way, so years later, having a daughter, it was still that moment of hearing my son make that statement that I realized I needed to change. So, we went to Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, and mentioned to the staff that I needed a bible study, I needed something. I knew what I was looking for in that big building. I went into their office and said that I needed a bible study. Someone from Church invited me to bible study and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, then afterwards I balled like a baby. It wasn’t just salvation, they helped me along the way. The staff there was constantly with me throughout my path, so to step inside a Christian Church, after being in a more traditional Catholic Church setting, it was a bit different, but now I’m out there raising my hands and singing hallelujah.”
The conversation continues about his latest film, Resurrection of Gavin Stone, which is Shawn Michaels’ debut in a feature film. Shawn mentions the synopsis of the film, and lastly the release date, which is January 20.
In 2015, Shawn Michaels was interviewed by Jamie Blaine of OnFaith about a book he wrote at the time titled Wrestling For My Life. Below, Michaels describes more in detail about how he felt after his son saw him nearly passed out on the couch where he said, “Daddy’s tired.”
“I wasn’t tired. It was the realization that he could tell. He knew. And that completely broke me down. That was the night I said, never again. I cried out to the Lord for help and never looked back.”
Since that turning point, Shawn Michaels has become a model citizen for those who seek to redeem themselves regardless of the sins they have committed in life.
[Featured Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]
