Shawn Michaels is said to finally be feeling relief 27 years after his most horrific injury – but there are more battles ahead.
The Hall of Famer recently underwent a procedure to tackle damage dating back to his infamous casket match with The Undertaker at the 1998 Royal Rumble, the bout that left him in agony and forced him out of the ring for over four years.
The brutal aftermath of Shawn Michaels’ casket match revealed
That January night in San Jose is etched into wrestling history. Michaels’ back slammed against the edge of the casket during a wild sequence with Undertaker, leaving him with two herniated discs and doctors doubting if he’d ever wrestle again.
He did return, of course, for a celebrated second career beginning in 2002, but the injury cast a shadow that lingered for decades.
On the latest episode of his Kliq This podcast, HBK’s close pal Kevin Nash revealed that Michaels has now undergone a significant procedure to address the remnants of that match. It was a rare and raw update on his close friend’s health.
“Shawn just got done,” Nash said of his former WWE tag team championship partner.
“He got an operation and got because when he f***** his back up on that casket match, they put some rods and s*** in his back… they had to take them out, because they were all twisted.”
Nash explained that the hardware inserted into Michaels’ spine in 1998 had deteriorated badly.
The removal, though, provided an immediate shift in how Michaels felt. “Shawn woke up from surgery and was like in less pain,” he added.
For Michaels, it is a boost that must have felt overdue. He famously returned to the ring at SummerSlam 2002 after four years away, producing some of the greatest matches of his career in his forties despite a body held together by grit, faith, and surgical steel.
Now, nearly three decades on from the injury that once ended him, a weight has finally been lifted.
Kevin Nash lifts lid on Shawn Michaels’ devastating surgery battle
But the 60-year-old, effectively the head of WWE’s developmental brand NXT, still faces fresh battles ahead. Nash was candid about the procedures that remain necessary for his long-time friend.
“And Shawn needs both his knees replaced on top of that,” he said. “And who’s to say, as long as they’ve [Shawn’s legs] been bowed like that, there’s not some hip things.”
For fans who watched Michaels glide across WWE rings with effortless balance, the thought of double knee replacement is sobering. His high-flying, athletic style, combined with countless bumps over the years, left their mark.
Even in his NXT coaching role today, Nash suggested that Michaels’ body will not let him push too hard.
The topic of Michaels’ health came up as Nash pondered whether his friend could ever step into Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque’s high-level corporate role in WWE.
While some fans speculate about Michaels being the natural heir to his old Kliq ally, Nash dismissed the idea.
“So I think when Paul calls it a day, I don’t know if that would be something that, like, why?” he asked. “You know, he lives in Lakeland, he’s got this little schedule. Nobody’s going to take NXT, like, Why? Why jump up and take that?”
That vision of Michaels enjoying a quieter life in Florida feels far removed from the chaos of the late 1990s, when he was the volatile centrepiece of WWE’s war with WCW and his body was breaking down under the strain.
Retirement back then seemed permanent. Yet he returned, redefined himself, and proved one of the most enduring performers of the modern era.
Now, though, there are no comebacks left to chase, with the iconic Texan safe in the confines in his role producing the next generation of wrestling talent in NXT and able to enjoy life in a little less pain.