Shawn Michaels Says New Documentary Is About Redemption, Not Wrestling
Shawn Michaels says his new documentary is not the career retrospective fans might expect, and that was entirely intentional.
Speaking with Big Gold Belt Media ahead of the premiere, Michaels explained that "The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels" deliberately pushes past the highlight reel and into the personal chapters of his life that have rarely been examined in depth.
"A lot of this was really less about the wrestling career. It was the personal life, the salvation, being able to come back and ask these guys you're sorry and ask for forgiveness, and having them be gracious enough to give that to you, and to be able to rebuild and reconcile those relationships," Michaels said. "As mushy as it might sound, it's more about that than it was the actual wrestling career, because we do feel like that has been covered. The guy that was the showstopper and the performer, yeah, that's been well documented."
Michaels admitted he went into the project with some uncertainty about how it would differentiate itself from previous work about his life and career.
"I never like to be dismissive of my story by any stretch, but felt like, 'Oh well, we've kind of told it before. How will this one be different?'" he said.
The answer came in the film's focus on his current role in WWE and his work in NXT rather than a straightforward career retrospective. Michaels said he made a point of staying out of the filmmakers' way during production, trusting people who know the craft better than he does.
"I'm very hands-off. There's people that know more about this and are better at these kinds of jobs than I am," he said.
He also noted that the finished product contained footage he had never seen himself. "Stuff that I've never seen before. I've got to be more careful when cameras are around," he joked.
When asked whether his controversial 2018 return match at Crown Jewel was considered for inclusion in the documentary, Michaels kept his answer brief. "No, not that I'm aware of. No."
The documentary features commentary from Triple H, The Undertaker, Kevin Nash, and Bret Hart. "The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels" premieres Monday, April 13 on Peacock.
