Shawn Michaels
The only thing you have to have is patience and an attitude that you aren't ever going to give up.Collection: Patience
That's what I love about my faith and Christianity. It's the polar opposite of darn near everything I experienced in the wrestling business. I still love the business, and I'm thankful for everything that it's provided, but the idea that it deals in the truth is the furthest thing from reality.Collection: Thankful
People will constantly bring up my past and throw it in my face, but the Creator of the Universe doesn't. If you ask forgiveness from Him, then it's gone forever. The past is never brought up to shame you or degrade you.Collection: Forgiveness
I enjoyed the theatrics and the physical demands of everything that went on in the ring. But I was, initially, a relatively shy kid. I think that's probably what attracted me to hunting is that it was such a polar opposite of the other, and it was that opportunity for peace and quiet and to decompress.Collection: Peace
I live in a constant state of gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation for the second chance I was given, so anytime in any film, when that is given to someone, I always appreciate it.Collection: Chance
If I truly believe everything that's in that book, God is in control. He is in control. He's working for my good. Doesn't mean everything's going to be smooth, but that's all I needed to know. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I have no doubt that LeBron James would've loved to have played against Michael Jordan, but that simply is not going to happen.
You don't have to be a believer in Jesus Christ to be a gracious individual and understand that everybody messes up and that most are looking for a second chance.
The Four Horsemen were limousines and Lear Jets, while DX was trailer parks and outhouses. One was white trash, one was upper crust. I always saw DX and the NWO as the natural rivals at the time.
Over the years, with hunting, I think what's become my favorite part of hunting is how self-sufficient I'm becoming.
I'll go out there and give you a show like you've never seen. Why... Because I can!
You do your best with the realization that nothing gets you in ring-shape better than being in the ring.
Don't be afraid to be who you really are. Enjoy it and don't take it and yourself so seriously. I probably wouldn't have listened, but if I did, I would have saved myself some heartache along the way.
Being a good husband and father... that's the most important thing I'm going to do on this earth.
You have to continue to hone your craft.
If we're not a good steward of what God gives us, he takes it away. I think that's what happened. I wasn't a good steward of the gift that he gave me in this line of work. I abused it, so he took it away.
I don't consider myself a great multitasker, so I try to do one thing at a time, even though there were opportunities when I was wrestling.
There were times that we'd be in the locker room there before everyone else, and a guy would walk in, say, 'Is this the Kliq locker room?' So we'd draw with a sharpie on the back of a program and write 'Kliq locker room'. I can promise you that none of those signs were ever on WWE letterhead.
Being called 'The Heartbreak Kid', 'Mr. Wrestlemania,' and all those other names doesn't even begin to compare to what it feels like to know that the Almighty God who created the universe calls me His child.
The whole thing about me being The Showstopper - and Mr. WrestleMania - is that it was something I said once, and it took on a life of its own from there. Truthfully, I think the idea of going out and stealing the show is something you ought to do every time you wrestle. But if you focus only on that element, you end up doing almost too much.
Bret and I were friends, but we were young, and we made bad decisions. We couldn't see outside the wrestling business. It was the end-all, be-all. You were in that box constantly, so that's all you thought about. It affects your decision-making.
My whole intention at 'WrestleMania XIV' was to drop the belt to Steve, but I was going to make everybody sweat it out and make them think I wasn't. Obviously, I got that accomplished. That's extremely unprofessional, but that's exactly who I was and what I was doing.
My faith is sort of where I got my confidence. And it was the confidence of, 'It's going to be what it's going to be.'
There are Christians who think there were seven actual days, or that creation was over time. They have answers for dinosaurs and things of that nature. And I don't claim to have any of those answers. And I understand people wanting to have discussions about it.
I don't pass myself off as a Bible scholar or a pastor or someone who knows all the biblical facts cover-to-cover. I'm just a guy whose life was changed by it. And that's about the extent of it. So I'm not easily offended when people struggle about where they're at with their faith at all.
I think I was given a gift to wrestle. And I think when I came back, I had a much better appreciation of that. And I believe the way I went about doing it made me better at it. I didn't identify myself with the job as I did so much in the '90s. In the '90s, I didn't know who I was other than 'the wrestler.'
I'm one of those people who would be OK with fading back into the background a little bit.
Acting is something I always wanted to try after wrestling, and I felt like this was a perfect fit.
I look at Samoa Joe, and I've told him a number of times that I see his stuff at 'NXT' and think to myself, 'Man, I could have a great deal of fun with you.' He's a guy I have sort of enjoyed, and one of those sleeper guys that no one talks about.
There are faith-based movies that some people don't consider good, but every time it comes to the scene where someone's life is changed, that still affects me.
If I'm appearing on 'Raw,' then I'm usually there to help sell tickets to something, and that's when you see the 'HBK' Shawn Michaels come out. At panels, I can be more open and honest and show some more humility. They don't want me talking about my family on TV, but I can in a panel setting.
I would love to have gotten into it with Harley Race. He was such a good wrestler and rough and tough. We wrestled at the same time but never each other. And wrestling Sting would have been something I would have enjoyed.
I wasn't great at a lot of stuff, but I was good at not worrying about being a wrestler.
It wasn't until 2002 when I returned to WWE and until I had physically been out there - it was during the match when Kevin Nash blew his quad. That next morning, I was sitting on the plane, reading my Bible and the Book of Joshua, and this feeling came over me that I was back here for a reason. God built me to be a wrestler.
There's no one of us that's perfect; there's no one of us that can't do just a little better.
One of the things my dad and I got to bond over was going to the San Antonio Spurs games when Gervin was there, James Silas... I can't remember the rest of the guys' names, but it was a fun time.
Whether it's NASCAR or whether it's football, or whether it's the NBA, any time something spills over to the point where somebody makes a WWE reference, I always think it's a good thing.
Regardless of what people think of the WWE, we're great at storylines; we're great at drawing money. We're great at causing controversy, and when the other sports do it, they usually do better. It keeps it interesting and makes it fun for the fans.
The wrestling world is unique. There are things that happened, and there are things that didn't happen, but in wrestling, you just say they all happened. Some of it's fun to let stay out there - it adds to the mystique and wrestling lore.
Sometimes - and I don't mean it disrespectfully - the easiest people to work in the wrestling business are the people in the locker room.
I think everybody would like to see me against AJ Styles at 'WrestleMania'. That's one that people have talked about, but I also really like Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins.
My life now is about my heart going pitter-patter for my children.
My faith and family has helped me a great deal in that it helps me to live to a different standard.
I learned very early that you don't get time back. I'd miss my children growing up, so that's the reason I retired.
No, I don't want to go back and wrestle again... But some big bubble could break, and I might need money like everybody else.
If you're desperate enough for attention, any attention will make you feel better.
You've got to be able to go 100 miles per hour in the ring, out of the ring, partying, and you've still got to make all your commitments.
I've always wanted to be a rebel. I've never wanted to do what everybody else is doing. Man, I've got news for you, that is what I am really doing now, and it's the coolest thing ever. I got to know the person of Christ. I see him as one of the greatest rebels of all time. That's what really appeals to me. It's hope. It's victory.
As a wrestling fan, I can remember years ago seeing my first Street Fight between Wahoo McDaniel and Tully Blanchard, and I remember thinking to myself that I will really think I've made it when I can come to the ring in jeans and cowboy boots with my hands taped and stuff like that.
Tully was the first young, handsome, cocky, well-dressed bad guy. He was our version of Ric Flair before I knew who Ric Flair was. This was before cable TV or any of that, and Tully was our Ric Flair.