The Undertaker’s 10 Most Shocking Controversies 9

9. Threatening Shawn Michaels

The relationship of Undertaker and Shawn Michaels ended on a positive note in 2010, HBK bowing out with consecutive WrestleMania performances against ‘The Deadman’ which stole the show on both occasions.
It wasn’t always this with Taker and Michaels, specifically in the Attitude Era when both were top guys. Michaels was seen as a selfish worker who only cared for himself, his influence on Vince McMahon was seen as a negative. Things came to a head at Survivor Series 1997 when Michaels conspired with McMahon to ‘screw’ Bret Hart.
As locker room leader, a sort of wrestler union figure between the workers and McMahon, Undertaker wasn’t happy. A mistrust of Michaels was ingrained in Taker from that day on, he looked upon the star as nothing more than a prima donna. The unrest came to a head toward WrestleMania 14, Michaels was due to drop the WWE title to Steve Austin, but Undertaker didn’t trust him, so he taped his fists up and got in Michaels’s face.
The whole thing was done to intimidate HBK, who reportedly was legitimately scared, it let Michaels know not to screw about with dropping the title to Austin. Was it fair for Undertaker to threaten a colleague in this way? Given Michaels’s behaviour when he dropped out of competing at Mania 13, yes, Taker’s controversial ‘taping the fists’ was completely understandable.