Shawn Michaels had his wrestling debut on October 16, 1984 for Mid South Wrestling, which was part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Micheals would spend a couple of years paying his dues and improving his in ring skills, wrestling for Texas All Star Wrestling and the American Wrestling Alliance (AWA), where he and Marty Jannetty formed The Midnight Rockers. In 1987, The Midnight Rockers signed with WWF but were quickly released following an incident at a bar. On July 7, 1988, Michaels and Jannetty returned to WWF and were re-branded as simply “The Rockers.” The Rockers were fan favorites, and enjoyed fairly good success in WWF, even unofficially winning the WWF Tag Team Championships from The Heart Foundation, but Shawn was always destined for more. In one of the most memorable break ups in wrestling history, Michaels turned on Jannety, delivering his signature “Sweet Chin Music” before throwing Jannetty through a window on the December 2, 1991 edition of Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake‘s Barber shop. With that, The Rockers were dead, and “The Heartbreak Kid” was born, as Michaels would go on to align himself with Sensational Sheri and turned full heel.
