Hack-Man My take on Shane Helms ripping Shawn Michaels

Last updated 11 January 2013


My take on Shane Helms ripping Shawn Michaels

By Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun

December 7, 2010

My take on Shane Helms ripping Shawn Michaels

Like many of you, I read the scathing comments that Shane Helms made about Shawn Michaels on his “Highway 2 Helms” video webcast earlier this week. But unlike a lot of people, I wasn’t shocked by Helms’ remarks.

That’s because it wasn’t the first time I had heard them. When Helms was in Baltimore in October to appear on a Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW) event, he and I hung out for a few hours after the show (I got lost driving him to the airport in my own hometown, but that’s another story), and when the subject of Michaels came up, he basically said all of the things that he went on to say on his webcast.

For those who are unaware, Helms was asked by co-host Marty Garner who his least favorite wrestler of all time was after he got to know him, and Helms responded that it was Michaels.

“Shawn was one of my idols, and then he really let me down as a person,” Helms said on the webcast. “I think his whole religious gimmick is a [expletive] work. I think he’s the biggest hypocrite in the business.”

Helms recounted an incident he witnessed backstage in WWE in which he claimed that Michaels “was throwin’ f-bombs at Chris Jericho in catering one time, and I was like, ‘Yeah, what would Jesus do? He would cuss this [expletive] out. Yeah, good job, Mr. Religious.’ ”

Helms also said that he was so angry at Michaels at a show one night that he wanted to fight him.

“I was like, ‘If I get fired for beating this [expletive] up, I’ll be OK,’ ” said Helms, who said that he would save the specifics of why he was upset at Michaels for his shoot DVD. “And I was this [expletive] close. I was just going to go beat him [expletive] bloody and just [expletive] roll.”

Helms went on to criticize Michaels, an avid hunter, for “murdering animals,” saying that he “never saw Jesus with a rifle over his shoulder.” He also said that Michaels “has snorted more coke, done more steroids, done more [expletive] than anybody you’ve ever known. And he’s going to come out on your show and drop to his knees and pray?”

Like I said earlier, Helms had said most of that to me in a private conversation a couple months ago, so it’s not like I didn’t know how he felt about Michaels. I am, however, a little surprised that he would say it publicly, but I suppose I have to give him credit for not changing his story to be more politically correct. Then again, I’m sure “Highway 2 Helms” has gotten a lot more views because of all the publicity Helms’ comments about Michaels have received.

As a matter of full disclosure, I have known Helms since 2000 when we both worked for WCW, and I have always gotten along with him. I have read on some websites where people have said that Helms is just another bitter ex-WWE wrestler, but I don’t see him as that kind of guy at all.

As for Michaels, it’s no secret that I consider him to be the greatest performer that I have seen in my 37 years of following pro wrestling. I also have been impressed with how he appears to have overcome his personal demons and matured over the years.

With that being said, I admit that my perception of Michaels is based on being someone who is on the outside looking in. I have interviewed Michaels several times over the years, and he knows who I am, but I can’t say that I have ever had a conversation with him that wasn’t an interview.

So I’ll say the same thing that I said to Helms when he told me how he felt about Michaels: Having worked in the same company with Michaels, Helms obviously knows him much better than I do. That doesn’t mean that I agree with everything that Helms said; it just means that I have not been in a position to observe how Michaels conducts himself backstage.

All I can say is that every time I have dealt with Michaels on a professional level, he has been very gracious and humble. The last time I interviewed him – which was over the phone prior to his retirement match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI last March – the WWE public relations representative came on the line and said that we needed to wrap it up (which is standard procedure because the talent usually does a string of interviews in succession). Michaels, however, said that since this was his last interview of the day, he wanted to continue until I had asked all my questions. So he ended up giving me another 10-15 minutes, which he certainly didn’t need to do.

The fact is that Michaels will always be a polarizing figure in the industry. I’ve had a few big-name wrestlers over the years tell me exactly how much they disliked him. It’s mostly people who worked with him in the ’90s (Michaels himself has said that he was very difficult to deal with back then). Conversely, I’ve also had people that I respect in the industry who have first-hand knowledge tell me how much Michaels has changed since becoming a born-again Christian.

Helms’ main beef with Michaels is that he doesn’t practice what he preaches. Personally, I think that Michaels – because of his bad boy antics in the ’90s and the fact that he wears his religion on his sleeve – does get held to a higher standard than other Christians in the wrestling business.

The one thing I do know is that even the most sincere Christians are flawed. They can even lose their tempers and curse in the heat of the moment just like everyone else. Does that mean that they are hypocrites? Or does it just mean that they are human?

Michaels, by the way, when asked on Twitter for his thoughts on Helms’ comments, wrote:

“I have zero desire 2 do the internet stuff other than corresponding w/u. U can make ur own decisions & I will respect them. May I now return to having fun w/ u all please. Life is 2 short 4 me 2 go thru High school again.”

To watch the “Highway 2 Helms” show in question, click here. The part about Michaels begins at 1:31:28. Be forewarned that there is a lot of profanity.


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