"The Lone Wolf"
•In the life of a wrestler, just as quickly as alliances form, they can dissipate just as fast. This is no less true for the #1 contender for the world title, Shawn Michaels, who as it appears, has been down this turbulent road on more than one occasion- the latest chapter involving his former friend and current WWF/nWo World Champion, Yokozuna. While the story between these two wrestlers’ friendship goes beyond what was seen on federation television, the end was witnessed to the shock and horror of federation fans worldwide.
On the May 5th edition of RAW is WAR, the night where Vince McMahon was recovering in the hospital while the n.W.o vowed to assert their control over the federation, the main event pitted Shawn Michaels and Yokozuna in a handicap match against the New World Order team of Diesel, Razor Ramon, and the Big Bossman. In the final moments of the match, while the referee was out cold, Yokozuna brought in a steel chair while the n.W.o scurried to the ring corner in defense. The fans were on their feet, cheering on their champion- but then, the chairshot heard all around the world came down with a thickening thud. Yokozuna quickly turned and nailed his friend and tag team partner, Shawn Michaels, in the head, as the 600lbs behemoth celebrated with the Diesel and the rest of the n.W.o members. As the attack persisted, it became very clear- Yokozuna had turned his back on Shawn and his legions of fans around the world, and joined the ranks of the New World Order to the disbelief of all those who watched. Surely, this would be a night to remember, as the New World Order would come up on top and strike a new pothole in the federation’s championship situation. For weeks, they had been boasting of a new member that would debut in the n.W.o. on RAW, and while the federation fans were shocked at the appearance of the Macho Man Randy Savage, the New World Order still had its bombshell surprise in Yokozuna, making not one, but two new members in one night.
This championship road all began at the last PPV, WrestleMania 2000, when the fan-favorite Yokozuna retained the world title by defeating the Ministry Undertaker from the Monsters of Darkness, and Shawn Micheals defeated n.W.o leader, Diesel, in a steel cage match for the number one contendership for the world title. For federation fans, this night would build up perhaps one of the greatest title fights in the history of the federation, pitting not only 2 friends, but 2 of the biggest fan favorites in the federation against each other at the upcoming King of the Ring PPV.
The following RAWs after the PPV saw the friendship between Shawn and Yokozuna strengthen, with the two coming together as allies against the Monsters of Darkness, and the New World Order. However, as mentioned previously, the friendship between the two had begun backstage much before the on air alliance. Upon his federation debut at the 1999 Royal Rumble PPV, Yokozuna came in to a very promising start professionally, winning the world title that night in the Royal Rumble match itself, entering at #30. However, as all wrestlers who sported championship gold at one point in their career would attest, by winning the title, you automatically become the target of all others in the wrestling world. But it was one man, Shawn Michaels, who took the first step in welcoming the new superstar into the federation. For many who questioned Shawn’s motives, knowing of his championship-oriented goals, these speculations soon dropped as time went on. From there, the two became good friends behind the scenes and on the road, and rarely let their professional stances get in the way of finding a good time. But their friendship came to an abrupt end, perhaps much too soon according to many.
However, perhaps if the New World Order was not involved, this story would not be as emotional. As longtime federation fans will remember, Shawn was also once a member of the notorious group, but he found out first hand how vicious they can be and how quickly they can turn on you. For this was Shawn’s other anti-milestone in his career, with the best friendship between Diesel and Shawn souring to a bitter end- it was Diesel that almost ended Shawn’s career and jeopardized his life by pushing him off a 40 foot balcony in 1997 on LIVE television. This put Shawn out of wresting for over 2 years until he made his miraculous return under the visage of a masked wrestler named “the Ninja”. Since his return, Shawn vowed revenge on his former best friend and on the New World Order, and it seemed to fans that with Yokozuna by his side, he would win this fight; this prediction unfortunately was not the case.
It is not known at the present time why Yokozuna joined the n.W.o, but more importantly, why he turned on Shawn. Some are even questioning if this was a friendship gone wrong, or if it was all one big setup from the beginning. If the latter was true, the n.W.o has once again pulled a fast one on the federation, and namely, Shawn Michaels.
Regardless of the motivations behind these actions, the two will still meet in the main event of the King of the Ring PPV. With the sudden turn of Yokozuna to the diabolical stable that is the nWo, Shawn's mind is obviously not as focused as if he and Yoko had been on the same page. Will the stabbing knife that has been stabbed into the fragile back of HBK effect his performance at King of the Ring? Yokozuna is deadly in that ring, and if Shawn is not concentrating on the task at hand, he could be the victim of another Banzai Drop, crushing his Championship dreams once again. But perhaps the burning question at present, is whether or not the now-abandoned Shawn Michaels will be able to fend for himself against the entire nWo, with his former number one ally in the enemy's camp...only time will tell.