Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative and oversees the creative aspects of the NXT brand, the promotion's developmental territory. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is known by the nicknames "The Heartbreak Kid" (often abbreviated as HBK), "The Showstopper", and "Mr. WrestleMania".

Michaels wrestled consistently for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed in 2002), from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998. He performed in non-wrestling roles for the next two years, resuming his wrestling career with WWE in 2002 until ceremoniously retiring in 2010. He returned for a one-off final match in 2018. In 2016, he began working as a coach at the WWE Performance Center, and from 2018 as a producer on NXT, before becoming the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative for the NXT brand itself.

In WWF/WWE, Michaels headlined pay-per-view events between 1989 and 2018, main-eventing the company's flagship annual event, WrestleMania, five times. He was the co-founder and original leader of the successful stable, D-Generation X. Michaels also wrestled in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he founded The Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty in 1985. After winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice, the team continued to the WWF as The Rockers and had a high-profile breakup in January 1992. Within the year, Michaels twice challenged for the WWF Championship and won his first Intercontinental Championship, heralding his arrival as one of the industry's premier singles stars.

Michaels is a four-time world champion, having held the WWF Championship three times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once. He is also a two-time Royal Rumble winner (and the first man to win the match as the first entrant), the company's first Grand Slam Champion and fourth Triple Crown Champion, as well as a two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee (2011 as a singles wrestler and 2019 as part of D-Generation X). Michaels won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated "Match of the Year" reader vote a record eleven times, and his match against John Cena on April 23, 2007, was ranked by WWE as the best match ever aired on the company's flagship television program, Raw. Michaels has been a participant in several first installments of a number of WWE's signature gimmick matches--namely the first Hell in a Cell at the Badd Blood: In Your House, the first Ladder match during a taping of WWF Wrestling Challenge (and subsequent first pay-per-view installment at WrestleMania X), both the inaugural (as part of The Rockers tag team) and first televised (at WrestleMania XII) Iron Man matches, and Elimination Chamber at the 2002 Survivor Series.

Early life
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom was born in Chandler, Arizona, on July 22, 1965. He has an older sister named Shari and two older brothers named Randy and Scott. He was raised in a military family and briefly spent some of his early years in the English town of Reading, Berkshire, but grew up primarily in San Antonio, Texas. As a child, he disliked the name "Michael" and convinced his family and friends to address him by his middle name. Ever since, he has been referred to as Shawn. Additionally, Hickenbottom moved around frequently since his father was in the military. He knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler at the age of 12 and performed a wrestling routine at his high school's talent show, complete with fake blood. He was a keen athlete while growing up, and his sporting career began at the age of six when he played football. He was a stand-out linebacker at Randolph High School on Randolph Air Force Base and eventually became captain of the football team. He attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, but dropped out to pursue a career in professional wrestling. His cousin Matt Bentley is also a wrestler.

Professional wrestling career

National Wrestling Alliance (1984–1985)
Hickenbottom began to train under Mexican professional wrestler Jose Lothario. During his training, Hickenbottom adopted the ring name, "Shawn Michaels". After his training with Lothario, he debuted as Shawn Michaels with the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Mid-South Wrestling territory on October 16, 1984, against Art Crews, losing to Crews via swinging neckbreaker. Michaels's performance in his debut match impressed many veterans, including Terry Taylor. Michaels made his televised debut on October 20, 1984 teaming with Jim Hornet in a losing effort against the tag team of Hercules Hernandez and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.

In January 1985, he debuted for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), the NWA territory in Dallas, Texas. In April 1985, Michaels went to work for another NWA territory in Kansas City called Central States Wrestling. There, he and tag team partner Marty Jannetty defeated The Batten Twins for the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship, later losing it back to the Battens.

Texas All-Star Wrestling (1985–1986)
After leaving Kansas City, he returned to Texas to wrestle for Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW). During his time with TASW, Michaels replaced Nick Kiniski in the American Breed tag team, teaming with Paul Diamond. Michaels and Diamond were awarded the TASW Tag Team Championship by Chavo Guerrero Sr. The team was later renamed American Force. While in TASW, Michaels and Diamond feuded with Japanese Force.

American Wrestling Association (1986–1987)
Michaels made his national-level debut, as Sean Michaels, at the age of 20 in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in a victory over Buddhakhan on ESPN. He was once again teamed with Marty Jannetty, billed as The Midnight Rockers. The Midnight Rockers won the AWA World Tag Team Championship, defeating Doug Somers and Buddy Rose.

World Wrestling Federation and return to AWA (1987–1988)
In 1987, The Rockers were signed by a competing promotion: the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). They were fired from WWF two weeks later, for a bar incident (a misunderstanding, according to Michaels's autobiography). They then returned to AWA, where they won the AWA tag team titles for a second time, but were re-signed by WWF a year later.

Return to the WWF/E

The Rockers (1988–1992)

The Rockers redebuted at a WWF live event on July 7, 1988. Due to WWF chairman Vince McMahon's desire to have his performers carry WWF-exclusive ring names, Michaels and Jannetty were renamed, as simply The Rockers. The team proved popular with both children and women and was a mid-card stalwart of television and pay-per-view shows for the next two years. During this time, Michaels headlined his first pay-per-view for the WWF when The Rockers were involved in the 4-on-4 Survivor Series match main event of Survivor Series on November 23, 1989, which they won.

On October 30, 1990, The Rockers unofficially won the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), as Neidhart, half of the championship team, was in the process of negotiating his release from the company. The match was taped with The Rockers winning the title, but soon after Neidhart came to an agreement with management and was rehired. The championship was returned to the Hart Foundation, while the title change was never broadcast or even acknowledged on television (though The Rockers did have a successful title defense on November 3, 1990, against Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) before the title was returned to the Hart Foundation). When news spread, WWF explained that the original result was void due to a collapsed turnbuckle in the ring during the bout. A buckle had indeed broken, but not to a noticeable or dangerous extent during the match. The Rockers continued their partnership, eventually splitting on December 2, 1991, aired January 11, 1992, on Wrestling Challenge, during an incident on Brutus Beefcake's televised Barber Shop talk show promotional segment. Michaels superkicked Jannetty and threw him through a glass window on the set of Beefcake's talk show. Jannetty returned to the WWF the following year and enjoyed moderate success before leaving the company in 1994, while Michaels became a prominent villain of the early to mid-1990s as "The Boy Toy".

Heartbreak Kid (1992–1995)

At the suggestion of Curt Hennig, Michaels adopted the nickname "The Heartbreak Kid". Along with his new name came a new gimmick as a vain, cocky villain. He was put together with mirror-carrying manager, Sensational Sherri, who according to the storyline had become infatuated with him. Sherri even sang the first version of his new theme music, "Sexy Boy". During that period, after Michaels had wrestled his scheduled match at live events, his departure was announced with "Shawn Michaels has left the building", alluding to the phrase "Elvis has left the building".

At WrestleMania VIII on April 5, 1992, Michaels defeated Tito Santana in his first pay-per-view singles match after both men had simultaneously eliminated each other from that year's Royal Rumble. Michaels subsequently became a contender to the promotion's singles titles and failed to win the WWF Championship from champion Randy Savage in his first opportunity to compete for that title at British event UK Rampage, held on April 19 at the Sheffield Arena and broadcast on Sky Movies Plus (the match later aired in the US on the edition of June 15 of Prime Time Wrestling). Michaels was also unable to win the Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart in the WWF's first ladder match at a Wrestling Challenge taping on July 21, which was subsequently made available on multiple Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases. However, he won the title from The British Bulldog on Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI, which aired on November 14. He faced Hart for the WWF Championship at Survivor Series on November 25, but lost the match. Originally the secondary main event, Michaels and Hart became the primary main event after The Ultimate Warrior was unable to compete and was replaced by Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig) in the tag team match that involved Randy Savage against the team of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. During this time, Michaels and Sherri split and he engaged himself in a feud with former tag team partner Marty Jannetty. Michaels lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jannetty on the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, but regained it on June 6 with the help of his debuting "bodyguard" (and off-air friend) Diesel.

In September 1993, Michaels was suspended for testing positive for steroid – a charge he never admitted. On WWF programs, his suspension was explained by his having neglected to defend the title often enough. After turning down World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s advances, Michaels returned to the WWF and made several appearances in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) during a WWF/USWA cross-promotion. He returned on November 24 at Survivor Series, substituting for Jerry Lawler, who was dealing with legal issues, in a match pitting himself and three of Lawler's "Knights" against the Hart brothers, Bret, Bruce, Keith and Owen.

In 1994, Michaels entered a rivalry with Razor Ramon, who had won the vacant Intercontinental Championship during Michaels's absence. Since Michaels had never been defeated in the ring for the title, he claimed to be the rightful champion and even carried around his old title belt. This feud culminated in a ladder match between the two on March 20 at WrestleMania X. Michaels lost the match, which featured both his and Ramon's championship belts suspended above a ladder in the ring. This match was voted by fans as "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. It also received a five-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer, the first of nine WWF/E matches to do so. Over the next few months, Michaels battled various injuries and launched the Heartbreak Hotel television talk show segment, mainly shown on Superstars.

On August 28, Michaels and Diesel won the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). The next day at SummerSlam, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ramon when Michaels accidentally superkicked Diesel. This triggered a split between the two, a storyline that was drawn out until Survivor Series on November 24. Michaels won the Royal Rumble on January 2, 1995, which set up a championship grudge match on March 20 at WrestleMania XI against Diesel (who had gone on to win the WWF Championship from Bob Backlund). As part of the storyline, Michaels recruited Sid as his bodyguard for the build-up, lost the match and was attacked by Sid the following night. After this, Michaels took time off because Vince McMahon wanted Michaels to become a fan favorite.

Formation of the Kliq (1995–1996)

Michaels returned to the ring as a fan favorite in May 1995 and defeated Jeff Jarrett to win his third Intercontinental Championship on July 23 at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks. This led to a title defense against Razor Ramon on August 27 at SummerSlam in a ladder match, which Michaels won. Around this time, Michaels became the leader of a backstage group known as The Kliq. Critics perceive the group to have sufficient clout with WWF owner Vince McMahon, becoming dominant wrestling figures in the WWF for several years in the mid-1990s, causing friction with other wrestlers. Michaels disputes the perception, saying that McMahon pushed only deserving wrestlers. Michaels's fan base was later nicknamed "The Kliq" as an inside reference to the real "Kliq". In October 1995, Michaels was the victim of a legit assault outside a bar in Syracuse, New York. Due to not being able to compete, Michaels was forced to forfeit the Intercontinental Championship to his original opponent Dean Douglas on October 22 at In Your House: Great White North, who in turn Douglas lost the championship to Razor Ramon, another member of the Kliq. During a match with Owen Hart on a November episode of Raw, Hart performed an enzuigiri that struck the back of Michaels's head. They continued the match, but Michaels collapsed in the ring, supposedly because he had suffered a concussion. The concussion was scripted, which was kept from most fans at the time. A retirement angle was written so that Michaels could take some time off after he came back from an injury too soon.

WWF Champion (1996–1998)

After teasing retirement, Michaels returned to the WWF at the Royal Rumble match on January 21, 1996, winning for the second year in a row to receive a WWF Championship match in the main event at WrestleMania XII. Around this time, Jose Lothario became Michaels's on-screen manager. At WrestleMania XII on March 31, Michaels defeated WWF Champion Bret Hart in the overtime of their sixty-minute Iron Man match, which had ended in a scoreless tie. On May 19, Michaels and his fellow Kliq members were involved in the incident known as "Curtain Call". Diesel and Razor Ramon were about to leave WWF to company rival WCW. After Michaels won a match against Diesel, Ramon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley came to the ring and joined Michaels and Diesel in a group-hug. As Diesel and Helmsley were seen as villains at the time, in contrast to Michaels and Ramon, this constituted a breach of "kayfabe", as acting out of character, which was rare and controversial at the time. As WCW gained momentum due to the signings of Hall and Nash, Michaels held the championship for most of the year. At Survivor Series on November 17, Michaels lost the WWF Championship to Sycho Sid but recaptured the title on January 19, 1997 at Royal Rumble.

On a special episode of Raw dubbed Thursday Raw Thursday, Michaels vacated the WWF Championship. He explained to fans that he was informed by doctors that he had suffered a knee injury. Michaels contemplated thoughts of retirement and stated that he "had to find his smile again", which he had "lost" somewhere down the line. After consulting with Dr. James Andrews, who concluded that he did not need surgery, Michaels underwent four weeks of physical therapy and returned to in-ring action a few months later, briefly teaming with Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. In his autobiography, Michaels discusses his real-life feud with Bret Hart, claiming that Hart did interviews on live television claiming that he [Michaels] was faking his whole injury.

By the spring of 1997, the real-life backstage conflict between Michaels and Hart was reaching its height. Both men were going out on television and frequently making personal, true to heart remarks about one another. Michaels briefly left the WWF in June of that year after a real backstage fight with Hart, just hours before a Raw Is War show, which allegedly resulted from Michaels making an on-air remark, known as the "Sunny Days" comment, implying that Hart (who was married at the time) was having an affair with Tammy Sytch, a manager and valet who was signed to the WWF as Sunny. Michaels and Austin were still WWF Tag Team Champions at the time during an ongoing feud with the Hart Foundation and a tournament was made to decide new tag team champions. Michaels eventually returned that summer in July. At SummerSlam on August 3, Michaels officiated the WWF Championship match between WWF Champion The Undertaker and Bret Hart. The match ended controversially, with Michaels hitting Undertaker with a chair (unintentionally, as he was aiming for Hart after he spat in his face). Michaels was then forced to award the championship to his nemesis, Bret Hart. The next night on Raw Is War, signs of a heel turn started to show as Michaels told the WWF fans what happened at SummerSlam was an accident and that he dealt with the Undertaker when the time came. At WWF One Night Only, held in Birmingham, England on September 20, Michaels defeated The British Bulldog to capture the WWF European Championship. The fans at the event were so upset at the result of the match they booed Michaels out of the building to the extent that they littered the ring with garbage, cementing his second heel turn. With this win, Michaels became the first Grand Slam Champion. At In Your House: Badd Blood on October 5, Michaels defeated Undertaker in the first Hell in a Cell match, during which Michaels fell off the side of the  high structure through a table. The match received a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer.

In the fall, Michaels joined forces with real-life friend Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later known as Triple H), Helmsley's then real-life girlfriend Chyna, and Rick Rude to form the stable D-Generation X (DX). Michaels continued his rivalry with Bret Hart and his reformed Hart Foundation, which was now a pro-Canada stable. Michaels taunted the group and Canada by engaging in acts such as blowing his nose with and humping the Canadian Flag. Michaels later claimed the flag desecration was Hart's idea. Michaels's feud with the Hart Foundation culminated in a championship match at Survivor Series on November 9 against Hart. Michaels came out of this match, dubbed by fans the "Montreal Screwjob", as the WWF Champion. Michaels now held both the WWF and European championships at the same time. Michaels dropped the European Championship to DX member Hunter Hearst Hemsley in a farcical match.

First retirement and hiatus (1998–2002)

On January 18, 1998 at the Royal Rumble, in a casket match against The Undertaker, Michaels took a back body drop to the outside of the ring and hit his lower back on the casket, causing him to herniate two discs and crush one completely. Michaels went on to win the match but the injury rendered him unable to compete on the following month's No Way Out of Texas: In Your House as advertised, and forced him into retirement a night after losing the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin on March 29 at WrestleMania XIV.

After being away for nearly four months, Michaels made a surprise return to the WWF as a guest commentator on the July 13 episode of Raw Is War. Michaels continued to make non-wrestling appearances on WWF programming and on November 23 he replaced Sgt. Slaughter as the WWF Commissioner, eventually joining Vince McMahon's group of wrestlers called The Corporation. Throughout late 1998 and early 1999, Michaels made regular television appearances on Raw, in which he scheduled matches, throwing around his authority, and sometimes even deciding the outcome of matches. On the January 4, 1999 episode of Raw Is War, Michaels re-joined DX as a face, but disappeared from WWF television for a few weeks to have back surgery and by the time he returned DX was on the way of dissolving within the next couple of months.

On November 23, 1999, Michaels made a special appearance for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling at the 10th Anniversary Show at the Yokohama Arena, serving as the guest referee for the H vs fake Hayabusa (Mr. Gannosuke) main event. He got himself involved in the match when Gannosuke delivered a low blow on him and he responded later on with Sweet Chin Music.

Michaels made occasional appearances as the WWF Commissioner during the spring and summer of 1999, but remained absent from television after August until May 15, 2000, when he returned on Raw Is War to declare himself the special guest referee for The Rock and Triple H's Iron Man match at Judgment Day. One month later, Michaels briefly reappeared on Raw Is War to hand over the role of Commissioner to Mick Foley, and after another appearance in October did not make any in-arena appearances until mid-2002. He appeared briefly on television to make a speech at WWF New York during Armageddon on December 10, 2000.

Believing that his wrestling career was over, Michaels was interested in training individuals who wanted to become professional wrestlers. He saw potential in using his name and opened the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy (later the Texas Wrestling Academy) in 1999, after his lawyer Skip McCormick suggested the idea. Michaels left the academy in 2002, giving co-founder Rudy Boy Gonzalez sole responsibility due to Michaels's new contract with WWE. Michaels was also a sportscaster for San Antonio's local news for a short period during his retirement.

Feud with Triple H (2002–2004)
On the June 3 episode of Raw, Michaels returned to WWE television after 18 months of absence when Kevin Nash announced him as a new member of the recently reformed New World Order (nWo). Michaels was the only nWo member to have never worked in WCW. After the nWo had disbanded, Triple H appeared to make amends with Michaels. This was solidified when Michaels pleaded Triple H to return to Raw. Later on, they came down to the ring sporting their DX music and attire. When the pair was about to perform their trademark "Suck It" taunt, Triple H turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him. Continuing the angle, a week later, Triple H attacked Michaels from behind in a parking lot and put his head through a car window, in storyline. In response, Michaels challenged Triple H to "a fight" (a non-sanctioned match) on August 25 at SummerSlam, which Triple H accepted, laying the foundation for a rivalry that lasted for several years. In his first WWE match since WrestleMania XIV, Michaels defeated Triple H at SummerSlam, but was attacked by Triple H with a sledgehammer after the match. At Survivor Series on November 17, Michaels won the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in the first Elimination Chamber match. On December 15 at Armageddon, he lost the championship to Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match, a series of three matches in which wrestlers attempt to win the majority of matches.

Michaels then began a rivalry with Chris Jericho, after Jericho claimed that he was the next Shawn Michaels. On January 13, 2003, after Jericho won a battle royal to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble, choosing number two in order to start the match with Michaels, who had already been named number one. At the Royal Rumble on January 19, Jericho, with the help of Christian, eliminated Michaels. Michaels later interfered in the match, causing Jericho to be eliminated. Michaels defeated Jericho on March 30 at WrestleMania XIX but was low-blowed after hugging Jericho. On the December 29 episode of Raw, Michaels seemingly defeated Triple H after a Sweet Chin Music for the World Heavyweight Championship in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas with Eric Bischoff as the special guest referee (Earl Hebner originally refereed the match, only to be knocked out by Triple H in the middle of the match). However, Bischoff reversed the decision due to both men's shoulders being on the mat. Angered by this, Michaels attacked Ric Flair and Bischoff. He was subsequently fired by Bischoff but rehired by Steve Austin.

As a part of an ongoing feud with Triple H, the two competed alongside Chris Benoit in the main event on March 14, 2004, at WrestleMania XX for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Benoit won. The night before this, Michaels inducted Tito Santana in the WWE Hall of Fame. A triple threat WrestleMania rematch for the title took place on April 18 at Backlash, where Benoit successfully retained it after forcing Michaels to submit to a Sharpshooter. Due to the "Montreal Screwjob" incident, the Edmonton crowd booed Michaels, with chants of "You screwed Bret!" being heard during his match at Backlash. At Bad Blood on June 13, Michaels lost to Triple H in the longest Hell in a Cell match in history. Four months later, he lost a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H, after Edge interfered on October 19 at Taboo Tuesday, when the fans voted for him ahead of Edge and Chris Benoit to face Triple H one more time. Following this, Michaels was out of action for a few months with a legit torn meniscus.

D-Generation X reunion (2005–2007)

At the Royal Rumble on January 30, 2005, Michaels competed in the Rumble match and eliminated Kurt Angle. In seeking revenge, Angle re-entered the ring and eliminated Michaels, and thus placed him in an ankle lock submission hold, outside the ring. Michaels issued a challenge to Angle for a match at WrestleMania 21, which Angle accepted when he appeared on Raw to attack Michaels. The following week on Raw, Marty Jannetty and Michaels had a one time reunion as The Rockers and defeated La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier). Three days later on SmackDown!, Angle defeated Jannetty, after Angle made Jannetty submit to the ankle lock. To send a "message" to Michaels, Angle also humiliated Michaels's former manager, Sensational Sherri, when he applied the ankle lock hold on her. At WrestleMania on April 3, Angle defeated Michaels by submission, again with an ankle lock.

The next night on Raw, Muhammad Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault Michaels. On the April 11 episode of Raw, Michaels approached General Manager Eric Bischoff, in which he demanded a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused to schedule such a match and instead told Michaels to find a partner. Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him. On the April 18 episode of Raw, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to save Michaels and accept his offer. At Backlash on May 1, Hogan and Michaels defeated Hassan and Daivari. Later, in a WrestleMania rematch, Michaels defeated Kurt Angle (who was drafted to Raw in the draft lottery) on June 26 at Vengeance. On the July 4 episode of Raw, after defeating Carlito and Kurt Angle, Michaels hit Hogan with his Sweet Chin Music, knocking Hogan to the ground and turning heel for the first time since 1998. The following week on Raw, Michaels appeared on Piper's Pit where he superkicked Roddy Piper and then challenged Hogan to a match at SummerSlam, which Hogan accepted the following week. Hogan defeated Michaels at SummerSlam on August 21, and after the match Michaels extended his hand to him, saying "I needed to know, and I found out" and he and Hogan shook hands. Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd, turning face once again. He became the first person to cleanly defeat Chris Masters on September 18 at Unforgiven with Sweet Chin Music. On the October 3 WWE Homecoming episode of Raw, he wrestled old rival Kurt Angle to a 2–2 draw in a 30-Minute Iron Man match. Afterwards, he challenged Angle to sudden-death overtime, but Angle refused and walked out. He was part of Team Raw at Survivor Series on November 27, but lost the match to Team SmackDown!.

On the December 26 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon lauded Michaels for his part in the "Montreal Screwjob". Michaels said he was only being loyal to his company, he had moved on, and McMahon should move on as well. McMahon then began setting unusual stipulations for Michaels' matches and interfering on behalf of Michaels' opponents. On January 29, 2006, at the Royal Rumble, McMahon made his way to the ring, and as Michaels stared at McMahon, Shane McMahon made a surprise appearance to eliminate Michaels. On the February 13 episode of Raw, McMahon unsuccessfully forced Michaels to sign retirement papers. The following week, Michaels won a handicap match against the Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky and Mikey), after which Michaels's former partner, Marty Jannetty, saved him from the assault by the Spirit Squad. After the two reunited, McMahon offered Jannetty a contract if he "kissed his ass." The following week, Jannetty refused McMahon's offer and instead took Chris Masters's "Masterlock challenge." Michaels tried to help Jannetty, which ultimately resulted in Shane attacking Michaels and forcing him to kiss his father's behind. On March 18 at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXII, Shane defeated Michaels in a Street Fight after he applied a sharpshooter on Michaels, leading to McMahon ordering for the bell to be rung though Michaels did not submit, which was an allusion to the "Montreal Screwjob". Despite interference from the Spirit Squad and Shane, Michaels defeated McMahon on April 2 at WrestleMania 22 in a No Holds Barred match. At Backlash on April 30, The McMahons (Vince and Shane) defeated Michaels and "God" with help from the Spirit Squad in a no disqualification tag team match. On the May 22 episode of Raw, the Spirit Squad was scripted to injure Michaels's knee. This angle was written so Michaels could have surgery on his knee, which had been legitimately injured for some time.

In 2006, a series of events took place which suggested a reunion of Michaels and Triple H as DX. They began at WrestleMania 22, where both Michaels and Triple H performed the crotch chop during their matches. On Raw, the two continued to deliver chops, as Michaels feuded with Vince McMahon and Triple H went to challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship, repeatedly butting heads with Vince McMahon in the process. On the June 12 episode of Raw, DX officially reunited. During Triple H's gauntlet match, which had him compete against the Spirit Squad. Michaels came in to help Triple H, and the two did the DX "crotch chops." On June 25 at Vengeance, DX defeated the Spirit Squad in a 5–on–2 handicap match. They also defeated the Spirit Squad on July 15 at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII in a 5-on-2 elimination match and defeated The McMahons on August 20 at SummerSlam. At Unforgiven on September 17, DX defeated the McMahons and ECW World Champion The Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match, ending the feud.

At Cyber Sunday on November 5, DX lost to Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) after fan-selected referee Eric Bischoff allowed the illegal use of a steel chair to give Rated-RKO the ill-gotten win and the plaudit of being the first tag team to defeat DX in a tag team match since their reformation in June 2006. On November 26 at Survivor Series, Team DX emerged victorious against Team Rated-RKO in a clean sweep victory. At New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, Triple H suffered a legit torn right quadriceps during their match with Rated-RKO. Rated-RKO claimed victory over DX, citing Triple H's injury, as the "end" of DX. On the January 15 episode of Raw, Michaels lived up to his word of "dealing" with Rated-RKO, from his comments the previous week before, when he took out Randy Orton with a con-chair-to after a handicap match against Edge and Orton. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, Michaels was the last man eliminated in the Royal Rumble match by the winner of the match, The Undertaker.

Various feuds and championship pursuits (2007–2009)

On the January 29 episode of Raw, Michaels captured the World Tag Team Championship with WWE Champion John Cena after defeating Rated-RKO. At WrestleMania 23 on April 1, Cena retained the WWE Championship against Michaels after making him submit to the STFU. The next night on Raw, Michaels and Cena competed in two back-to-back ten team battle royals, winning the first and losing the World Tag Team Championship in the second to The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) when Michaels threw Cena over the top rope. Michaels faced off with Cena, Edge and Randy Orton in a fatal four-way match on April 29 at Backlash for the WWE Championship, where Cena retained the title after Michaels performed Sweet Chin Music on Cena, causing him to fall on Orton for the pinfall.

Michaels then entered a feud with Randy Orton when Orton claimed that he could beat Michaels. The week before their scheduled match on May 20 at Judgment Day, after Michaels won a match against then-World Heavyweight Champion Edge, Orton attacked him by punting Michaels in the head. Orton assaulted Michaels again prior to their match at Judgment Day, interrupting Michaels's interview segment. Michaels collapsed during their match, causing Orton to win by referee stoppage. Orton continued the beating and performed an RKO to a fallen Michaels, who was removed out of the ring in a stretcher. During the feud, Michaels suffered a storyline concussion. This injury was used to keep Michaels out of action, as he required surgery for his knee. Michaels made his return on the October 8 episode of Raw, performing Sweet Chin Music to newly crowned WWE Champion Randy Orton during his title ceremony at the end of the show and then celebrating over the knocked-out champion as Vince McMahon watched. On October 28 at Cyber Sunday, Michaels was voted by the fans to face Orton for the WWE Championship, though he won via disqualification when Orton hit Michaels with a low blow, which resulted in Orton retaining the championship. Michaels got another opportunity at the WWE Championship, when he was granted his rematch against Orton on November 18 at Survivor Series. In their match, Michaels was banned from using Sweet Chin Music upon request by Orton, referring to as Michaels superkicking Orton week after week. Michaels lost the match, when Orton performed an RKO for the win, which ended their feud.

Michaels defeated and ended Ric Flair's career in a Career Threatening match on March 30, 2008 at WrestleMania XXIV. Afterwards, Batista confronted Michaels about his actions at WrestleMania, calling him selfish and egotistical. On April 27 at Backlash, with Chris Jericho as the guest referee, Michaels defeated Batista. Jericho then confronted Michaels, in which he admitted to faking a knee injury in order to defeat Batista. Michaels defeated Jericho on May 18 at Judgment Day. At One Night Stand on June 1, Michaels lost to Batista in a stretcher match. On the June 9 episode of Raw, Michaels was attacked by Chris Jericho during his talk show segment, The Highlight Reel, being thrown directly through a television screen. The following week, it was revealed that, within the context of the storyline, Michaels had suffered a detached retina. On July 20 at The Great American Bash, Jericho defeated Michaels by referee stoppage after assaulting Michaels's eyes.

At SummerSlam on August 17, Michaels announced his retirement from professional wrestling. That night, Jericho punched Michaels's wife in the face. On the August 25 episode of Raw, Michaels renounced his retirement and challenged Jericho to an unsanctioned match at Unforgiven on September 7, which Jericho accepted. The next week, they had a contract signing for the match and were involved in a brawl, causing a legit small triceps tear for Michaels. He was medically cleared to compete at Unforgiven, and beat Jericho so severely that the referee called the match, making Michaels the winner. Later that night, Jericho replaced CM Punk in the World Heavyweight Championship scramble match, and won the title. On October 5 at No Mercy, Michaels was defeated by Jericho in a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship.

In December 2008, having lost his family's savings due to the global recession, Michaels grudgingly accepted a one-year general employment contract from John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). After failing to help JBL win the World Heavyweight Championship from John Cena on January 25, 2009 at the Royal Rumble, and being derided for it, Michaels agreed to face JBL in "All or Nothing" match at No Way Out on February 15, which Michaels won thus letting him out of his contract early while still receiving full payment.

On the March 2 episode of Raw, Michaels became the first person to defeat Vladimir Kozlov, and so earned a match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 on April 5, which he lost thus extending The Undertaker's WrestleMania winning streak to 17–0. Their match was highly acclaimed by critics and audiences alike and is now considered by many to be one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. After WrestleMania, Michaels took a hiatus from WWE.

Final matches and second retirement (2009–2010)

Michaels returned to WWE programming in a series of segments that aired on the August 10, 2009 episode of Raw, where he had, in storyline, left the WWE. Triple H met with Michaels at an office cafeteria in Texas where he was working as a chef; throughout the segments, Triple H tried to convince Michaels to return to WWE and reform DX. After several incidents during the segments, Michaels agreed to team with Triple H to face The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase) at SummerSlam on August 23, where DX defeated Legacy. At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs on December 13, DX defeated Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and Big Show) to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC). On the January 4, 2010 episode of Raw, Michaels buried the hatchet with long-time rival Bret Hart, as they shook hands and hugged in the ring. In contrast to the storylines featured on the show, this was in fact a legitimate reconciliation which laid to rest animosities surrounding the Montreal Screwjob. While some cast doubts on its sincerity, both men have confirmed that it was indeed genuine. DX lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a triple threat match to the team of The Miz and Big Show on the February 8 episode of Raw; the match also included The Straight Edge Society (CM Punk and Luke Gallows). On February 21 at Elimination Chamber, Michaels cost The Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. At WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, Michaels lost to The Undertaker and, as a result, he was forced to retire due to the match stipulation, the same way Michaels ended Ric Flair's career. The following night, on the March 29 episode of Raw, Michaels gave an emotional farewell speech, departing with the familiar sentence, "Shawn Michaels has left the building."

In an interview with Bill Simmons of ESPN.com shortly after his retirement, Michaels stated that his decision to retire came a month before WrestleMania 25, when a backstage employee asked about his son Cameron, and, in response to Shawn telling the employee that he'd just turned nine, the employee said that he was "halfway gone"; meaning that he was halfway to his eighteenth birthday, and after that, he'd be "gone". The statement affected Michaels deeply; he did not want to be absent when his son left home, so he decided that year would be his last year as an active wrestler.

WWE Hall of Fame and sporadic appearances (2010–present)
On the December 14, 2010 episode of Raw, Michaels won the Slammy Award for Moment of the Year for his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI and accepted it via satellite. Three days later, he announced a long-term deal with WWE, where he would serve in an ambassadorial role. Michaels made his in-person television return at the December 11 Tribute to the Troops taping, where he and Triple H had a one-night only DX reunion.Michaels appeared on the January 10, 2011 episode of Raw, where he was announced as a WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011 inductee. After being ridiculed by Alberto Del Rio later that night, Michaels hit Del Rio with Sweet Chin Music. On the March 28 episode of Raw, Michaels addressed Triple H and The Undertaker about their match at WrestleMania XXVII. Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 2 by Triple H. They were also joined by fellow Kliq members Kevin Nash (who had returned to WWE for the Royal Rumble) and Sean Waltman. He returned on the June 27 episode of Raw, where he was confronted by CM Punk, and superkicked David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty. Later that night, when Diamond Dallas Page's special appearance was interrupted by Drew McIntyre, he superkicked McIntyre.

In June 2011, Jim Ross, Michaels and Hart announced that the three were working on a DVD chronicling the careers of Hart and Michaels that the WWE was planning to release in October 2011. The subject of the DVD was their on-screen rivalry and real-life conflicts, with a particular focus on the Montreal Screwjob. In his tweet, Hart described working on the DVD as a "cathartic" experience, and Ross asserted that both Hart and Michaels had been very honest and emotional in their interviews. The DVD, Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart: WWE's Greatest Rivalries, was released in November 2011.

On the February 13, 2012 episode of Raw, Michaels confronted Triple H about accepting The Undertaker's challenge for a Hell in a Cell match on April 1 at WrestleMania XXVIII, and announced he would be the special guest referee for it. Michaels appeared on the August 6 episode of Raw where he was confronted by Brock Lesnar, who (kayfabe) broke Michaels's arm after putting it in a Kimura Lock the following week. On the April 1, 2013 episode of Raw, Michaels returned to offer to corner Triple H in his match with Brock Lesnar on April 7 at WrestleMania 29. During that match, Michaels superkicked an interfering Paul Heyman, helping Triple H win and keep his job.

At Hell in a Cell on October 27, Michaels served as the special guest referee for the vacant WWE Championship Hell in a Cell match between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton, performing Sweet Chin Music on Bryan so Orton could win. The next night on Raw, Michaels explained he was upset with Bryan for attacking Triple H during the match and degraded him for not showing him respect, turning heel for the first time since 2005. Bryan applied the "Yes!" Lock on Michaels to end the segment.

On April 3, 2016, at WrestleMania 32, Michaels, as a face, made an appearance during the event in his in-ring attire, confronting The League of Nations alongside Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin, where Michaels delivered Sweet Chin Music to Alberto Del Rio and King Barrett before celebrating with Foley, Austin and The New Day. He appeared on the January 9, 2017 episode of Raw to promote his new film. He was then confronted by Rusev, Lana and Jinder Mahal, before Enzo Amore and Big Cass came to Michaels's side, leading to a match between Big Cass and Mahal, which Cass won after Michaels superkicked Rusev at ringside, distracting Mahal. On the March 13 episode of Raw, Michaels gave Roman Reigns advice about The Undertaker for their match at WrestleMania 33, before Braun Strowman attacked Reigns on the entrance ramp. He was one of the many WWE legends who appeared on the January 22, 2018 episode of Raw 25 Years.

At Super Show-Down on October 6, Michaels assisted Triple H in defeating The Undertaker, after which, he was attacked by Undertaker and Kane. On the following episode of Raw, Michaels appeared with Triple H, announcing that he was coming out of retirement for one final match and reforming D-Generation X. On November 2 at Crown Jewel, D-Generation X defeated The Brothers of Destruction. The match was poorly received by fans and critics alike, winning the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's "Worst Match of the Year" award, although PWTorch's Wade Keller considered that "Michaels shows glimpses and didn't embarrass himself".

In April 2019, Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for a second time as a member of D-Generation X. He appeared at Survivor Series on November 22, 2020, during The Undertaker's retirement ceremony. On January 23, 2023, at Raw is XXX, Michaels again reunited with D-Generation X (without Billy Gunn, as he was no longer under contract with WWE) until they and Kurt Angle were confronted by Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser, and Giovanni Vinci).

NXT (2016–present)

In late 2016, Michaels became a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. According to Pro Wrestling Torch in 2017, Michaels along with Terry Taylor teach the finishing class at the Performance Center, the last of four levels of classes. In November 2018, Michaels announced he was officially working as a writer and producer on WWE's NXT brand and show, under former D-Generation X cohort Paul Levesque. In September 2021, Levesque stepped away from the brand after experiencing a "cardiac incident". Michaels, in his role as Vice President of Talent Development, took over responsibility for the running of the NXT shows. In September 2022, his job title was confirmed as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, responsible for both creative and development at NXT, and for the expansion of NXT UK into NXT Europe in 2023.

Legacy
Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Michaels received praise for several matches, including 15 Match of the Year awards between Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Also, his match at WrestleMania 24 against Ric Flair was named Match of the Decade by the Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Dave Meltzer gave him two 5 stars matches (the Ladder match against Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X and the first Hell in a Cell against The Undertaker at Bad Blood 1997). After several acclaimed matches at WrestleMania, Michaels has been known as Mr. WrestleMania. Sumit Rehal of Independent UK in his top 10 WrestleMania matches listed Michaels 3 times (vs Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X, vs Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII and vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV). In 2016, Dave Richard of CBS Sports ranked his match against Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV as the best main event in WrestleMania history.

His rivalry with Bret Hart has been named one of the best rivalries in WWE history.

His near hour long match with John Cena on the April 23, 2007 edition of WWE's longest weekly episodic show Raw is widely regarded as the greatest match in the Raw's history.

Michaels is cited as an inspiration for many wrestlers such as Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole and numerous other wrestlers.

Personal life
Hickenbottom's first marriage, to Theresa Wood, soon ended in an amicably settled divorce. He married Rebecca Curci, a former WCW Nitro Girl known as Whisper, at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on March 31, 1999. Only the couple and an Elvis impersonator were present. They have a son named Cameron Kade (born January 15, 2000) and a daughter named Cheyenne (born August 19, 2004).

In 1996, Hickenbottom posed for a non-nude layout in Playgirl magazine. Only after he posed did he discover Playgirl has a mostly homosexual readership, for which some of his fellow wrestlers teased him.

Hickenbottom is ambidextrous, using his left hand for writing and his right hand for drawing. As a wrestler, he typically kicked with his right leg when performing his finishing move, but used either arm for his signature elbow drop. He had trouble differentiating between right and left, which affected his football games as a child.

In 1987, Hickenbottom developed a pattern of "heavy" substance abuse, which eventually alienated some of his closest friends, and may have explained his reputation for being difficult to work with during the 1990s. He contemplated suicide in the late 1980s, and suggested that psychological intervention was "probably sorely needed" by the late 1990s. His wife Rebecca observed, "There was something in him that he despised, and he was self-destructing." He abandoned his drink-and-drugs lifestyle out of fear that he would negatively influence his young son.

Hickenbottom became a born-again Christian on April 24, 2002. He was raised a Catholic, but became a non-denominational Christian because of his wife. His later ring attire often incorporated cross symbols and he made a praying gesture on his knees during ring entrances. He was in the audience for a televised service of John Hagee's Cornerstone Church in his hometown of San Antonio, where he is also a Bible teacher. In 2008, he appeared on a Trinity Broadcasting Network program with fellow wrestler Sting.

Other media

Television
Michaels was the host of the outdoor television show, Shawn Michaels' MacMillan River Adventures, in which he and his longtime friend, Keith Mark, owner and operator of the original MacMillan River Adventures camp in Yukon, Canada, hunted big-game animals around the world. This series aired on CarbonTV.

HBK Line
During their 2015–16 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League named a line, consisting of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel, the "HBK Line" due to the fact that the trio's first initials, of their last names, recall Michaels's "Heartbreak Kid" moniker. Pens' game-day staff would regularly play Michaels's theme "Sexy Boy" over the Consol Energy Center PA system after goals or excellent shifts by line members.

After weeks of having fun with Penguins fans on Twitter, the team officially invited Michaels for their Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning (whose fanbase contains a sizable number of pro wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan and Titus O'Neil, due to Tampa long being a home base for many wrestlers), upon which Michaels accepted. Michaels met with Penguins' owner Mario Lemieux and sat with former Pittsburgh Steelers's defensive lineman Brett Keisel during the game. Keisel also gave Michaels a tour of the city including at the Steelers headquarters and having lunch at Primanti Brothers in the city's Strip District. The Penguins lost the game in overtime 4–3 but went on to defeat the Lightning in the series and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, eventually defeating the San Jose Sharks for the Stanley Cup.

Outside of his numerous appearances with WWE, it was not Michaels first visit to Pittsburgh. In 2013, he appeared at the opening of the first Field & Stream store in suburban Cranberry Township.

While the Penguins successfully defended their Stanley Cup championship the following year, the HBK Line was broken up when Kessel was moved to the 2nd line with Evgeni Malkin and Bonino left the team in free agency.

Book
On February 10, 2015, Hickenbottom published an autobiography entitled Wrestling for My Life: The Legend, the Reality, and the Faith of a WWE Superstar. It was co-written by David Thomas.

Filmography

Video games

Championships and accomplishments

 American Wrestling Association
 AWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Marty Jannetty
 The Baltimore Sun
 Feud of the Year (2008)
 Match of the Year (2007)
 Match of the Year (2008)
 Match of the Year (2009)
 Match of the Year (2010)
 Wrestler of the Year (2008)
 Cauliflower Alley Club
 Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement/Lou Thesz Award (2018)
 CBS Sports
 Worst Angle of the Year (2018)
 Central States Wrestling
 NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Marty Jannetty
 Continental Wrestling Association
 AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Marty Jannetty
 Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 Feud of the Decade (2000–2009) vs. Chris Jericho
 Feud of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho
 Match of the Decade (2000–2009) vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV
Match of the Decade (2010–2019) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI
 Match of the Year (1993) vs. Marty Jannetty on Monday Night Raw on May 17
 Match of the Year (1994) vs. Razor Ramon in a ladder match at WrestleMania X
 Match of the Year (1995) vs. Diesel at WrestleMania XI
 Match of the Year (1996) vs. Bret Hart in an Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII
 Match of the Year (2004) vs. Chris Benoit and Triple H at WrestleMania XX
 Match of the Year (2005) vs. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21
 Match of the Year (2006) vs. Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 22
 Match of the Year (2007) vs. John Cena on Raw on April 23
 Match of the Year (2008) vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV
 Match of the Year (2009) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25
 Match of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker in a career vs. streak match at WrestleMania XXVI
 Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Decade (2000–2009)
 Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2010)
 Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1995, 1996)
 Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1996
 Ranked No. 10 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
 Ranked No. 33 and No. 55 of the top 100 tag teams of the PWI Years with Marty Jannetty and Diesel, respectively, in 2003
 Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
 Class of 2017
 Texas All-Star Wrestling
 TASW Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Paul Diamond
TASW Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Paul Diamond & DJ Peterson
 Texas Wrestling Alliance
 TWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment / WWE
 WWF Championship (3 times)
 World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 WWF Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
 WWF European Championship (1 time)
 WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Triple H
 WWF/World Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Diesel (2), Stone Cold Steve Austin (1), John Cena (1), Triple H (1)
 Royal Rumble (1995, 1996)
 First Grand Slam Champion
 Fourth Triple Crown Champion
 Slammy Award (15 times)
 Best Finisher (1997)
 Best Slammin' Jammin' Entrance (1996)
 Best Tag Team (1994) –  with Diesel
 Best Threads (1996)
 Double-Cross of the Year (2013) – For turning on Daniel Bryan and costing him the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell.
 Leader of the New Generation (1996)
 Master of Mat Mechanics (1996)
 Match of the Year (1994, 1996, 1997, 2008, 2009) – vs. Razor Ramon in a ladder match at WrestleMania X; vs. Razor Ramon in a ladder match at SummerSlam; vs Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII; vs The Undertaker at Badd Blood: In Your House; vs Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV; vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25
 Moment of the Year (2010) – vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI
 Squared Circle Shocker (1996) – Won for collapsing; Owen Hart accepts the award for making Michaels collapse
 Worst Tag Team (1994) –  with Diesel
 WWE Hall of Fame (2 times)
Class of 2011 – individually
Class of 2019 – as a member of D-Generation X
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 Best Babyface (1996)
 Feud of the Year (2004) vs. Chris Benoit and Triple H
 Feud of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho
 Match of the Year (1994) vs. Razor Ramon in a ladder match at WrestleMania X
 Match of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho in a ladder match at No Mercy
 Match of the Year (2009) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25
 Match of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI
 Worst Match of the Year (2018) with Triple H vs. The Undertaker and Kane at Crown Jewel
Best Pro Wrestling DVD (2011) Greatest Rivalries: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart
 Most Charismatic (1995, 1996)
 Tag Team of the Year (1989) with Marty Jannetty as The Rockers
 Worst Feud of the Year (2006) with Triple H vs. Shane and Vince McMahon
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2003)

References

Further reading

External links

|-

1965 births
20th-century professional wrestlers
21st-century professional wrestlers
American football linebackers
American male professional wrestlers
American male television actors
American male television writers
American television writers
American people of English descent
D-Generation X members
Living people
Professional wrestlers from Arizona
Professional wrestling authority figures
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
Professional wrestling trainers
Professional wrestling writers
Sportspeople from Chandler, Arizona
Texas State University alumni
The Kliq members
New World Order (professional wrestling) members
World Heavyweight Champions (WWE)
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF European Champions
WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions
WWE Champions
WWE executives
WWE Grand Slam champions
AWA World Tag Team Champions
Royal Rumble winners
World Tag Team Champions (WWE)
WWE Raw Tag Team Champions

Shawn Michaels


Patrick Hall (born 20 October 1951) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bedford from 1997 to 2010.  He was re-selected by the Labour Party as their candidate in Bedford for the 2015 general election, but failed to be re-elected to Parliament.

Early life
Patrick Hall was educated at the independent Bedford Modern School, the University of Birmingham and Oxford Polytechnic. He joined Bedford Borough Council in 1975 as a local government planning officer, becoming the borough's Town Centre Coordinator. Hall remained employed by the council until his election to Parliament.

He was elected as a councillor to the Bedfordshire County Council 1989–97 and was a member of the North Bedfordshire Community Health Council. He contested Bedfordshire North at the 1992 General Election, but was defeated by the veteran Conservative MP Trevor Skeet by 11,618 votes.

Parliamentary career
Patrick Hall was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election for the new seat of Bedford with a majority of 8,300.  He was re-elected at the 2001 and 2005 election. Hall was Bedford's third Labour MP and the first to hold the seat for more than one term.

He made his maiden speech on 30 July 1997, where he celebrated the history of Bedford and paid tribute to the town's diverse population. He also raised issues about the lack adequate and affordable housing supply, a cause which he would champion throughout his parliamentary career.

Hall made his reputation as being an attentive constituency-based MP. His work in Parliament reflected his experience in town planning, becoming the chair of the all-parliamentary group on town centre management. He was also a vocal campaigner on better transport links for Bedford, pushing for the Bedford by-pass and rail investment for the town's many commuters.

In 2003, Hall was one of 139 Labour MPs to rebel against the Government whip by voting in favour of an amendment which stated that there was no moral case for war in Iraq. In the end, Hall did not vote for the declaration of war, choosing not to vote on the motion.

In his final term in Parliament, Hall voiced his opposition to the Trident nuclear weapons programme, voting against its continuance.

During the expenses scandal, Hall remained one of the few MPs to be applauded for his integrity on claims. His expenses claims were among the lowest total claims of all MPs. He was described as one of the 'saints' by the Daily Telegraph, the newspaper which broke the expenses scandal story in 2009.

Hall lost his seat in the 2010 General Election to Conservative candidate Richard Fuller, who had also challenged him unsuccessfully in 2005. Fuller's slim majority of 1,353 made Bedford the Conservatives' twenty-fifth most marginal seat in Britain and a major target for Labour at the next general election.

On 30 June 2012, he was selected as Labour candidate for Bedford for the 2015 general election, but was defeated in the 2015 General Election.

Personal life

Patrick is married to Claudia and has two step sons, Giovanni and Gabriele.  He enjoys squash and gardening.

References

External links
 Official Website
 Patrick Hall on Twitter
 Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Patrick Hall MP
 TheyWorkForYou.com – Patrick Hall MP

1951 births
Living people
People educated at Bedford Modern School
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
Alumni of Oxford Brookes University
Politicians from Bedford
Politics of the Borough of Bedford
Alumni of the University of Birmingham

Patrick Hall (politician)


Jakarta XML Registries (JAXR; formerly Java API for XML Registries) defines a standard API for Jakarta EE applications to access and programmatically interact with various kinds of metadata registries. JAXR is one of the Java XML programming APIs. The JAXR API was developed under the Java Community Process as JSR 93.

JAXR provides a uniform and standard Java API for accessing different kinds of XML-based metadata registry. Current implementations of JAXR support ebXML Registry version 2.0, and UDDI version 2.0. More such registries could be defined in the future. JAXR provides an API for the clients to interact with XML registries and a service provider interface (SPI) for the registry providers so they can plug in their registry implementations. The JAXR API insulates application code from the underlying registry mechanism. When writing a JAXR based client to browse or populate a registry, the code does not have to change if the registry changes, for instance from UDDI to ebXML.

Jakarta XML Registries (JAXR) was removed from Jakarta EE 9.

References

External links

 Apache Scout is an open source implementation of the JSR 93
 JAXR home page
 freebXML Registry Provides a royalty-free open source JAXR implementation

XML-based standards
Java API for XML
Java specification requests
Java enterprise platform

Jakarta XML Registries


Sir John Walsham, 2nd Baronet  (29 October 1830 – 10 December 1905) was a British diplomat who was envoy to China and Romania.

Career
Walsham was the eldest son of Sir John James Walsham, 1st Baronet. He was educated at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He joined the Audit Office in March 1854 but transferred to the Foreign Office that October. He served in Mexico 1857–65, including acting as chargé d'affaires 1863–65. He served in Madrid 1866–70 at a time when the Spanish forts on the Strait of Gibraltar would fire on passing merchant ships if they failed to display their national flags. Walsham was a commissioner dealing with the arbitration of claims under an agreement of 1865, such as that of the schooner Mermaid, of Dartmouth, alleged to have been sunk by the fort at Ceuta. In 1870 Walsham moved to The Hague, and in 1873 he was nominated as secretary of legation at Peking but did not go there; instead he withdrew from the service because of the illness of his father, who died on 10 August 1874. Walsham, having succeeded to the baronetcy, rejoined the service in January 1875 and was posted back to Madrid, then in 1878 to Berlin, and in 1883 to Paris where he was given the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary in the absence of the Ambassador. In 1885 he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of China and the King of Korea. After seven years his health deteriorated due to the heavy work and the climate, and he returned to Europe and was envoy to Romania 1892–94. He retired in 1894 and was knighted KCMG in February 1895.

References

External links
Walsham, Sir John (1830-1905) 2nd Baronet Diplomat, UK National Archives

1830 births
1905 deaths
People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Korea
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Romania
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

John Walsham


Camille Sandorfy,  (9 December 1920 – 6 June 2006) was a Hungarian - Canadian quantum chemist.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, he received his Bachelor of Science in 1943 and Ph.D. in chemistry in 1946 from the University of Szeged. In 1949, he received his second doctorate, a D.Sc., from the Sorbonne.

In 1954, he emigrated to Canada for a National Research Council of Canada postdoctoral fellow at the Université de Montréal. From 1954 to 1956, he was an assistant professor at Université de Montréal. From 1956 to 1959, he was an associate professor at Université de Montréal. In 1959, he became a Professor.

He was a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.

Scientific research
He pioneered molecular orbital (MO) calculations on σ-bonded polyatomic molecules such as saturated hydrocarbons. He also performed the first MO calculations of the acidity and basicity of aromatic molecules in excited states.

He carried out extensive research in molecular spectroscopy. In infrared spectroscopy he studied molecular vibrations as well as overtone bands in hydrogen-bonded systems, and the effect of hydrogen bonds on vibrational anharmonicity. In electronic spectroscopy he specialized in the far ultraviolet region where he observed a number of molecular Rydberg states.

Some of his spectroscopic studies led to insights into biological processes, including the molecular mechanism of vision and the role of hydrogen bonding in anesthesia.

Honours
 In 1967, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
 In 1982, he was awarded the Quebec government's Prix Marie-Victorin.
 In 1993, he was made a Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
 In 1995, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
 In 1995, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.

References
 Biography of Camille Sandorfy - Website of l'Ordre national du Québec
 Fonds Camille Sandorfy
 Camille Sandorfy Biography by IAQMS (International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science)

1920 births
2006 deaths
Hungarian emigrants to Canada
University of Szeged alumni
University of Paris alumni
Academic staff of the Université de Montréal
Canadian chemists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
Members of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science
Knights of the National Order of Quebec
Officers of the Order of Canada
Theoretical chemists
Hungarian expatriates in France

Camille Sandorfy


Francine Holley (23 November 1919 – 22 May 2020) was a Belgian painter.

Biography
Holley was an apprentice of painter Mathilde Du Monceau from 1937 to 1944. She studied at the Académie royale des beaux-arts de Liège from 1944 to 1945, and moved to Paris the following year. She then trained with André Lhote from 1947 to 1948 before she painted in the workshops of Fernand Léger, Jean Dewasne, and Edgard Pillet. She gave her first exhibition in 1953 at the Galerie Arnaud in Paris, and subsequently presented at numerous galleries in France and Belgium. That same year, she created a wall decoration on the casino in Le Pouliguen. In 1955, her drawings became more complex and she diversified her material.

In 1962, Holley painted a mural at the entrance of the École Technique Aéronautique de Ville d'Avray following a request from Raymond Lopez. She then created a graphic design of the Dalle de Bobigny. In 1974, she made two polychrome sculptures at the École Le Londeau in Noisy-le-Sec. In 1978, Holley painted a mural in entrance hall of the Tour Helsinki.

In 1998, Holley's works became simpler and more synthetic. In 2007, a retrospective was held in her honor at the Roybet Fould Museum in Courbevoie.

Francine Holley died in Paris on 22 May 2020 at the age of 100.

References

1919 births
2020 deaths
20th-century Belgian women artists
21st-century Belgian women artists
Belgian centenarians
Belgian women painters
Women centenarians

Francine Holley


Halifax (demonym Haligonian) may refer to:

Places

Australia
Halifax Bay, North Queensland

Canada
British Columbia
Halifax Range, a mountain range

Nova Scotia
Halifax (electoral district), a federal electoral district since Confederation
Halifax Regional Municipality, capital of Nova Scotia, established in 1996, which includes:
Halifax (former city), the former city
Halifax County, Nova Scotia, the former county
Mainland Halifax, a region of the Municipality
Halifax Peninsula, part of the core of the Municipality
Metropolitan Halifax, urban part of the Municipality
Halifax Stanfield International Airport, built in Enfield in 1960
Halifax West, a federal electoral district since 1979

Prince Edward Island
Halifax Parish, Prince Edward Island

United Kingdom
Halifax, West Yorkshire, England (original source of the word "Halifax")
Halifax (UK Parliament constituency)

United States
Halifax, Massachusetts, in Plymouth County
Halifax (MBTA station)
Halifax County, North Carolina (named for George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax)
Halifax, North Carolina
Halifax Township, Pennsylvania, in Dauphin County
Halifax, Pennsylvania
Halifax, Vermont, in Windham County
Halifax County, Virginia (named for George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax)
Halifax, Virginia
Halifax River, in Florida (named for George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax)

Companies
Halifax (United Kingdom bank), part of the Lloyds Banking Group
Halifax (Irish bank), part of the Lloyds Banking Group

Music and television
Halifax f.p., an Australian television drama series
Halifax (band), an American rock band
The Halifax III, a 1960s Canadian folk music band

Military
Halifax Regiment (Duke of Wellington's)
Handley Page Halifax, a British bomber plane during World War II
Halifax-class frigate, of the Canadian Navy
, the name of two Canadian naval vessels
HMCS Halifax (FFH 330), the lead ship of the Halifax class
HMCS Halifax (K237), a World War II Flower class corvette for convoy escort duties
HMS Halifax, the name of several Royal Navy ships
HMS Halifax (1756), a 22-gun sloop launched in 1756 and captured by the French in the same year at Oswego
HMS Halifax (1768), a 10-gun schooner originally built for merchant service at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1765. Purchased in 1768 by the British Royal Navy and wrecked in 1775
HMS Halifax (1775), a schooner purchased in 1775 and sold 1780
HMS Halifax (1780), an 18-gun sloop, originally called the USS Ranger, renamed after the ship was captured from the United States Navy on 11 May 1780, and sold in 1781
HMS Halifax (1782), a 10-gun schooner purchased in 1782 and sold in 1784
HMS Halifax (1806), an 18-gun sloop launched in 1806 at Halifax, Nova Scotia and broken up in 1814

People

Surname
William Halifax, Lord Stirling (1786–1871)
Joan Halifax (born 1942), Zen Buddhist roshi

Titled
Marquess of Halifax, a British title created once
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax (1633–1695)
Earl of Halifax, a British title created four times and held by, among others:
Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (1661–1715)
George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (1685–1739)
George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (1716–1771)
Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax (1800–1885)
Charles Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax (1839–1934)
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (1881–1959) (created Earl of Halifax in 1944)
Charles Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax (1912–1980)
Charles Wood, 3rd Earl of Halifax (1944- )

Fictional
John Halifax, central character of John Halifax, Gentleman, 1856 novel

Sports
Halifax RLFC, a rugby league club
F.C. Halifax Town, a football club
Halifax Town A.F.C., was an English football club, prior to 2009
Halifax Mooseheads a QMJHL team

Other
Halifax College, a college of the University of York, England
Halifax Explosion, a 1917 explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia caused by a ship collision
Halifax Gibbet, an early guillotine

Related pages

Surnames

Halifax


"This Is the Night" is the debut single of American Idol second season contestant Clay Aiken, written by Chris Braide, Aldo Nova, and Gary Burr. It was released on June 10, 2003, on the RCA label, simultaneously with "Flying Without Wings" by rival contestant (and idol winner) Ruben Studdard. It became the 11th song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 (and the first by a debut act) to debut at number one on that chart, restricting "Flying Without Wings" to the number-two position.

Internationally, "This Is the Night" was issued as a double A-side with Aiken's cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water" in Canada and New Zealand, reaching number one in both countries. In both nations, the double A-side also kept "Flying Without Wings" from reaching the top spot.

Writing and inspiration
Although the song seems tailor-made as a potential show-winning song, it was not written specifically for American Idol. Co-writer Braide said in an interview with HitQuarters: "'This Is The Night' was written from the heart ... It was written after 9/11, and there's a line in it, 'Every kiss is a kiss/you can never get back', and it's about saying, to whoever you love out there, just appreciate them." American Idol creator Simon Fuller heard the song and said it was perfect for the show.

Release and chart performance
"Bridge over Trouble Water" / "This Is the Night" was released as a CD single and 7-inch single in the United States on June 10, 2003. Because of Billboards chart rules, only "This Is the Night" was listed on the Hot 100 chart since it received the highest cumulative airplay audience, appearing on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart at number 30 and climbing to a peak of number 13 in August 2003. On June 28, 2003, "This Is the Night" debuted at number one on the Hot 100 with sales of 393,000, becoming the fastest-selling physical single since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" and the best-selling physical single of 2003, with 948,000 copies sold. It was also the first song by a debut act to top the Hot 100 during its first week on the chart.

On July 15, 2003, the double A-side single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), becoming the first CD single to go platinum since 2002, when Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance" sold a million copies after being released for over a year. The double A-side also topped the charts in New Zealand, where it is certified platinum, and in Canada, going six-times platinum. "This Is the Night" was included as a bonus track on Clay Aiken's Measure of a Man album.

Credits and personnel
Credits are lifted from the US CD single liner notes.

Studios
 Recorded at Rokstone Studios (London, England) and Westlake Audio (Los Angeles)
 Mixed at Mix This! (Pacific Palisades, California)
 Mastered at Sterling Sound (Chelsea, New York City)

Personnel

 Aldo Nova – writing
 Gary Burr – writing
 Chris Braide – writing
 Friðrik "Frizzy" Karlsson – guitars
 Steve Pearce – bass
 Steve Mac – keyboards, production
 Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
 Frank Ricotti – percussion
 Dave Arch – production
 Chris Laws – recording (Rokstone)
 Robin Sellars – recording (Westlake Audio)
 Bob Clearmountain – mixing
 Kevin Harp – assistant mix engineering
 Daniel Pursey – assistant engineering
 Jason Rankins – assistant engineering
 Clive Davis – executive production
 Ted Jensen – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also
 List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2003 (U.S.)

References

2003 debut singles
2003 songs
American Idol songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Canadian Singles Chart number-one singles
Clay Aiken songs
Number-one singles in New Zealand
RCA Records singles
Song recordings produced by Steve Mac
Songs written by Aldo Nova
Songs written by Chris Braide
Songs written by Gary Burr

This Is the Night (Clay Aiken song)


Fictional characters found in the Charlie's Angels franchise include:

In television

1976 series

Characters in the 1976–81 television series Charlie's Angels include:
 Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) (1976–1981, 2003, 2019) and young Kelly (Tonya Crowe) (1976; season 1)
 Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson) (1976–1979)
 Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett) (1976–1977, regular) (1978–1980, guest star 6 episodes)
 Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd) (1977–1981) and young Kris (Jordan Ladd) (1978; season 3)
 Tiffany Welles (Shelley Hack) (1979–1980)
 Julie Rogers (Tanya Roberts) (1980–1981)
 John Bosley (David Doyle) (1976–1981)
 Charles "Charlie" Townsend (John Forsythe) (voice) (1976–1981, 2000–2003)
 Scott Woodville (David Ogden Stiers) (Charlie's majordomo in the pilot episode)

2011 series
Characters in the 2011 reboot series Charlie's Angels include:
 Kate Prince (Annie Ilonzeh)
 Abigail "Abby" Simpson (Rachael Taylor)
 Eve French (Minka Kelly) and young Eve (Taylor Blackwell)
 Gloria Martinez (Nadine Velazquez) and young Gloria (Anahi Artica)
 Zoe Sinclair / Oswald (Peyton List)  (Villain)
 John Bosley (Ramon Rodriguez)
 Charles "Charlie" Townsend (Victor Garber) (voice)
 Samantha Masters (Erica Durance)
 Ray Goodson (Isaiah Mustafa)
 Victor Simpson (John Terry)

Others spin-off series
Characters that would have been in Angels '89 include:
 Connie Bates (Claire Yarlett)
 Pam Ryan (Karen Kopins)
 Trisha Lawrence (Sandra Canning)
 Bernie Colter (Téa Leoni)

Characters that appeared in the Telemundo Network version called Ángeles in 1998 include:
 Elena Sanchez (Sandra Vidal)
 Adriana Vega (Patricia Manterola)
 Gina Navarro (Cole Pitman)

Characters that appeared in the German version called Wilde Engel from 2003 to 2005 include:
 Christina "Chris" Rabe (Birgit Stauber) (2002-2003)
 Franziska Borgardt (Susann Uplegger) (2002-2003)
 Lena Heitmann (Eva Habermann) (2002-2003)
 Rebecca (Vanessa Petruo) (2005)
 Ida (Tanja Wenzel) (2005)
 Aiko (Zora Holt) (2005)

Characters that appeared in the Taiwanese version called Asian Charlie's Angels in 2004 include:
 Betty (Qu Ying)
 Cindy (Kelly Lin)
 Annabelle (Annie Wu)
 Angie (Christy Chung)

In film
Characters in the first and second installments in the film series, Charlie's Angels (2000) and the sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, include:
 Natalie Cook (Cameron Diaz)
 Dylan Sanders (Drew Barrymore)
 Alexandra "Alex" Munday (Lucy Liu)
 Thin Man / Anthony (Crispin Glover)
 Jason Gibbons (Matt LeBlanc)
 Pete Komisky (Luke Wilson)
 John Bosley (Bill Murray)
 Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell)
 Roger Corwin (Tim Curry)
 Vivian Wood (Kelly Lynch)
 Jimmy Bosley (Bernie Mac)
 Madison Lee (Demi Moore)
 Seamus O'Grady (Justin Theroux)

Characters in the third installment in the film series, Charlie's Angels (2019), include:
 Sabina Wilson (Kristen Stewart)
 Elena Houghlin (Naomi Scott)
 Jane Kano (Ella Balinska)
 Rebekah "Bosley" (Elizabeth Banks)
 Edgar "Bosley" Dessange (Djimon Hounsou)
 John Bosley (Patrick Stewart)
 Charles "Charlie" Townsend (Robert Clotworthy) (voice)
 "Charlie", head of agency (Jaclyn Smith) (reveal)
 Ingrid (Hannah Hoekstra)
 The Saint (Luis Gerardo Méndez)
 Langston (Noah Centineo)
 Alexander Brock (Sam Claflin)
 Hodak (Jonathan Tucker)
 Fight Instructor (Ronda Rousey)

References

Lists of fictional characters

List of Charlie's Angels characters


A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair.

The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-stranded structure. More complex patterns can be constructed from an arbitrary number of strands to create a wider range of structures (such as a fishtail braid, a five-stranded braid, rope braid, a French braid and a waterfall braid). The structure is usually long and narrow with each component strand functionally equivalent in zigzagging forward through the overlapping mass of the others. It can be compared with the process of weaving, which usually involves two separate perpendicular groups of strands (warp and weft).

Historically, the materials used have depended on the indigenous plants and animals available in the local area. During the Industrial Revolution, mechanized braiding equipment was invented to increase production. The braiding technique was used to make ropes with both natural and synthetic fibers as well as coaxial cables for radios using copper wire. In more recent times it has been used to create a covering for fuel pipes in jet aircraft and ships (first using glass fibre, then stainless steel and Kevlar). Hoses for domestic plumbing are often covered with stainless steel braid.

Hair braiding

The oldest known reproduction of hair braiding may go back about 30,000 years: the Venus of Willendorf, a female figurine estimated to have been made between about 28,000 and 25,000 BC in modern-day Austria. The Venus of Brassempouy from the southwest of France is estimated to be about 25,000 years old and shows a braided hairstyle.

Although many cultures want to take sole credit for the braid, they cannot be traced to a single origin. Like how different versions of Cinderella are traceable to nearly every culture, braids, too, are polygenetic. One early example of hair braiding takes place in 1279-1213 BCE as recorded in the story of Isis: "when some of the queen's maidens came to the well, she greeted them kindly and began to braid their hair."

During the Bronze Age and Iron Age many peoples in the Near East, Asia Minor, Caucasus, East Mediterranean and North Africa are depicted in art with braided or plaited hair and beards. Similarly, the practice is recorded in Europe, Africa, India, China, Japan, Australasia and Central Asia.

Braiding is traditionally a social art. Because of the time it takes to braid hair, people have often taken time to socialize while braiding and having their hair braided. It begins with the elders making simple knots and braids for younger children. Older children watch and learn from them, start practicing on younger children, and eventually learn the traditional designs. This carries on a tradition of bonding between elders and the new generation.

Types of braids include Peekaboo Braids, box braids, cornrows, knotless braids, crochet braids, and French braid.

Braiding is also used to prepare horses' manes and tails for showing such as in polo and polocrosse.

Industrial history and use

Early braids had many uses, such as costume decoration, animal regalia (like camel girths), sword decoration, bowls and hats (from palm leaves), locks (such as those made in Japan to secure precious tea supplies through the use of elaborate knots), and weapons (e.g. slings).

Materials that are used in braids can vary depending on local materials. For instance, South Americans used the very fine fibers from the wool of alpaca and llama, while North American people made use of bison fibers. Throughout the world, vegetable fibers such as grass, nettle, and hemp have been used to create braids. In China, Korea, and Japan silk still remains the main material used. In the Americas, the braiding of leather is also common. Plaiting with kangaroo leather has been a widely practiced tradition in rural Australia since pioneering times.  It is used in the production of fine leather belts, hatbands, bridles, dog leads, bullwhips, stockwhips, etc. Other leathers are used for the plaiting of heavier products suitable for everyday use.

For nomadic peoples, braiding was a practical means of producing useful and decorative textiles. In other areas, such as the Pacific islands (where leaves and grasses are braided), and for many hill tribes, braids are made using minimal equipment. It was only when braiding became a popular occupation in the home or school, as it is in China and Japan, and when the Industrial Revolution came about, that specific tools were developed to increase production and make it easier to produce more complicated patterns of braids.

Braids are also very good for making rope and decorative objects. Complex braids have been used to create hanging fibre artworks.

Gold braids and silver braids are components or trims of many kinds of formal dress, including military uniform (in epaulettes, aiguillettes, on headgear).

Ropes and cables

Braiding creates a composite rope that is thicker than the non-interlaced strands of yarns.  Braided ropes are preferred by arborists, rock climbers, and in sport sailing because they do not twist under load, as does an ordinary twisted-strand rope. These ropes consist of one or more concentric tubular braided jackets surrounding either several small twisted fibre cords, or a single untwisted yarn of straight fibres, and are known as Kernmantle ropes.

In electrical and electronic cables, braid is a tubular sheath made of braided strands of metal placed around a central cable for shielding against electromagnetic interference. The braid is grounded while the central conductor(s) carries the signal. The braid may be used in addition to a foil jacket to increase shielding and durability. Litz wire uses braids of thin insulated wires to carry high frequency signals with much lower losses from skin effect or to minimise proximity effect in transformers. Flat braids made of many copper wires can also be used for flexible electrical connections between large components. The numerous smaller wires comprising the braid are much more resistant to breaking under repeated motion and vibration than is a cable of larger wires. A common example of this may be found connecting a car battery's negative terminal to the metal chassis.

Similar braiding is used on pressurized hoses, such as in plumbing and hydraulic brake systems in automobiles. Braiding is also used for fibres for composite reinforcements.

A property of the basic braid is that removing one strand unlinks the other two, as they are not twisted around each other.  Mathematically, a braid with that property is called a Brunnian braid.

Onion and garlic
Onion and garlic stalks are often braided for storage after they are partially dried.

Metaphors

Braids are often used figuratively to represent interweaving or combination, such as in, "He braided many different ideas into a new whole."

In some river and stream systems, small streams join and redivide in many places. Such stream systems are said to be braided. These are often found in alluvial fans at the outlet of canyons. This is a result of heavy sediment deposition at high flows followed by re-erosion at low flows.

Gallery

See also
 Braiding machines
 Braid theory
 Ceinture fléchée
 Kumihimo, Japanese braid
 List of hairstyles
 Ply-split braiding
 Sennit

References

External links

Minnesota Statute Sec.155A.28 https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/155A.28

Cables
Needlework
Ropework

Braid