WrestleMania 9 at Caesars Palace remains one of the wildest and most memorable events in professional wrestling history.

The event included exotic animals and the company’s biggest star, Hulk Hogan, showing up with a mysterious black eye of still-debated origin before winning the belt in an unscheduled and unannounced bout that lasted less than 30 seconds.

It also marked a pivotal moment in the career of Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, who competed in the first televised bout that night, though it wasn’t the best memory he has ever created in Las Vegas.

Michaels was married in front of an Elvis impersonator at the Graceland Wedding Chapel to his wife, Rebecca, beating the odds of the iconic venue by staying together for the long haul.

“It was full Las Vegas-style, even with a wedding (ring) tattoo,” Michaels laughed on a video call this week. “We just celebrated our 26th anniversary, and we love the fact we are white trash to the core.

“I’ve had a lot of good times in Las Vegas, some that I even still remember.”

WrestleMania is back

He will have the chance to be a part of a whole lot more this week as the WWE descends upon Las Vegas again. Michaels, now an executive with the company, is excited for the spectacle that WrestleMania week has become to take over the Strip.

It’s a much different experience than it was back when WrestleMania first came to Las Vegas in 1993.

“There will be moments people will remember the rest of their lives,” Michaels said of a week that includes two massive nights of WrestleMania at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday and Sunday, two live WWE television events at T-Mobile Arena, a pair of NXT shows featuring future stars of WWE and numerous ancillary events all around town.

“I’ve really been looking forward to this because it’s really fantastic for the WWE with people coming from all over the world. It’s going to be a hell of a time.”

While the wrestling days are over for Michaels, he insists his foray into the creative side of the business keeps the juices flowing and helps accomplish his ultimate goal of never having to grow up.

“I’m still as passionate about it as I’ve ever been,” said the 59-year-old Michaels, who’s in charge of talent development and creative for NXT. “I’m still a kid in a candy store every morning. I wake up every day being thankful for what I get to do. Those kids keep me young and keep me passionate, and I feed off their desire to be great. You get attached to them, and you want to see them have the opportunity to have that success.”

That passion may well have been sparked during that WrestleMania 9 event that was well-received by fans in attendance and formed the foundation of what the Super Bowl of wrestling would become, even if the execution wasn’t flawless in the moment.

It was on that night that Michaels, who had earlier retained his Intercontinental title despite a countout loss to Tatanka, was involved in a worked backstage brawl with his real-life friend Mr. Perfect that just so happened to be caught on camera.

“It was my first chance to really dive into creating storylines and angles,” he said. “That, to me, was something where I was starting to step into a role of being more of a key player than for the next year, a storyline and eventually to a ladder match that kind of put me on the map.”

More than just matches

Michaels believes WrestleMania 9, in retrospect, is where the mega-event started to go from a yearly marquee pay-per-view event to global phenomenon.

“The pomp and circumstance and the entrances and the things that went on at that event with the animals and the performer and everything under the sun, I think that’s when we first started looking at the idea of the event being so much bigger and so much more than just wrestling matches,” he said. “I’m still honored to have been a part of it. Vegas was the best place to start, and clearly this year is going to be no different.”

“Mr. WrestleMania” should know.

Michaels first bestowed the nickname upon himself, but it eventually caught on, and he somehow lived up to the moniker with some of the greatest performances the sport has ever seen.

Giving yourself a nickname is a wildly risky proposition. Actually living up to it is almost unheard of.

Perhaps as rare as Graceland Wedding Chapel nuptials actually working out.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.

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