Shawn Michaels Recalls WWE Firing Him After His First Match

Shawn Michaels has long been considered wrestling royalty, but his career aspirations were nearly dashed at the age of 22. Michaels and Marty Jannetty had been gaining momentum as The Midnight Rockers under the American Wrestling Association banner. The two signed with WWE in 1987, only to be fired after their first match with the promotion. Michaels recalled what happened during an appearance on Logan Paul's "IMPAULSIVE" podcast.

"It got exaggerated a bit, like everything wrestling does, but we got hired," Michaels said. "Like, 'Wow, we're finally here,' and of course, somebody's like, 'You need to go out with the guys, get to know them and everything.' Like, 'Gosh, we don't know.' Like, 'Go on, go on.' So, we went out and you're trying your best to stay out of trouble, but then somebody was coming around like, 'Come on here, you guys are big partiers.' Like, 'No, no,' you're trying to play reserved. Like, 'Come on," so you go, 'Alright.' I grabbed a glass off of the bar and smashed it on my head."

Michaels said he was trying to show the locker room that he could fit in by doing something tough. Instead, Michaels ended up losing his job.

"The next day it's like, that's not gonna work," Michaels said. "I can remember we were like, 'Oh my goodness, can we at least make a last-ditch effort to talk to you?' I remember going to the office in Stamford, sitting out there and I got my cowboy boots on and Vince comes up, he goes, 'Nice boots.' I went, 'Oh, thank you, sir. They were made for walking.' I was like, 'Oh my goodness.' He goes, 'Ha ha ha, I'm just kidding. Come on in,' and then he fired us."