"This is not something I wanna do, this is something I have to do"

Shawn Michaels: "I'm just going to - um - just gonna get right to it. The economy hit all of us very hard and unfortunately I am not immune to it. I'm in a very tough spot right now and I've heard all the whispers, believe me: 'Shawn Michaels, he's a WWE Superstar. He's on TV, he's rich! There's no way this could happen to him, this is just coming out of nowhere.' And believe me, I wish that was the case. But you know, like a lot of 20-year-olds, when I came into money, I lived the high life. I bought houses, cars, motorcycles and I gave a hand out to every high school buddy who needed it. And in my thirties, the injuries began to mount up and because of - I don't know - stubbornness or foolish pride I wasn't about to ask anybody for help. I paid for all my knee surgeries, I paid for all my back surgeries, because I wasn't about to be beholding any man or any company for the rest of my life.

Like ten years ago, I met my wife and we had two beautiful children and I turned my life around. And I did what I thought was a grown-up thing to do: I called an investment service and they invested my money in the stock market and everything went great for a while. I could provide for my family, I took care of all my friends and relatives, I gave to my church, I supported all the charities that I love and believe in. It was pretty simple: I had, they didn't, so I gave. And then the roof caved in.

Now if this was 20 years ago, it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but I'm not gonna come out here and lie to you. I don't know how much time I have left. I don't know how many years I have left. I still have a wife and two children that need me, that depend on me. I have family, relatives that depend on me. That is why I took JBL up on his offer. [Buhrufe] I don't like JBL any more than you do. He's smug, he's a bully and personally I find him reprehensible. But the man is very good financially and that's what I need right now.

I WILL put my children through college, I will NOT let my brothers and sisters lose their homes. And more importantly: I am not gonna become one of those guys. You think we don't hear about it, but we do. We hear you saying it: 'Did you hear about HBK? He's bagging groceries at the grocery store.' 'Did you hear about HBK? I saw him limping to a high school gym to wrestle.' I am not gonna become a wrestling tragedy. I will not let that happen.

You can judge me if you want. If being booed by you or being called a sell-out by you is the price I have to pay, then I'll pay it. ['You sold out' Chants] This is not something I wanna do, this is something I have to do."