Shawn Michaels Talks Spirituality, Fan Support, What Constitutes A 'Match Of The Year'

Shawn Michaels' perspective on his success in the wrestling business is directly in line with the importance he places on his personal relationship with his Heavenly Father. Speaking to Al Castle on the latest PWI Podcast, Michaels said that while he's appreciative that Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers voted him 11 Matches of the Year, it's not as important to him now as it might have been before he became a born-again Christian.

"It's always nice to get acknowledged," Michaels said. "From a job standpoint, it's very flattering and I'm very thankful to have received them, but honestly, I think more eternally now. As nice as it is, on my day of judgment I'm going to stand before God, and he's not going to ask me how many Matches of the Year I've won."

Michaels, who is promoting the release of his second book, Wrestling For My Life: The Legend, The Reality, And The Faith Of A WWE Superstar, told PWI that he feels wrestling fans' criteria for Match of the Year has changed over time.

"That's something I appreciate about [the] PWI [voting]," he said. "I think perhaps earlier there was maybe a little more focus, even though all aspects?psychology, storyline, timing?were all important, I think percentage-wise, action might have tipped the scales in those earlier ones. In the later ones, psychology and attention to detail, emotion, and that emotion driving a story is what prevailed. I don't know that the facials of Marty [Jannetty] and I, for example, in the early years sold that as a Match of the Year candidate like the action did, and I think in those later years, whether it was Flair or 'Taker or whomever, certainly facials and emotion drove that more than the actual action. That's sort of symbolic of how the wrestling business has evolved and changed over the years."

The PWI Podcast is available for free at www.pwi-online.com and the iTunes Store.

Source: Pro Wrestling Illustrated