"I've lost my smile"

Vince McMahon: "And now would you please welcome, the most flamboyant, the most charismatic, WWF Champion, perhaps of all time. Here, ladies and gentlemen, to surrender the World Wrestling Federation Championship; ladies and gentlemen the one... the only SHAWN MICHAELS!

This comes obviously as a shock. It's a shock to WWF fans all over the world. Maybe it really shouldn't be, considering what you give. Obviously, Shawn Michaels, what you bring to the World Wrestling Federation has taken it's toll on you; specifically, your knee. And as you are facing a knee operation, I wonder if you would share, with the millions of your fans all over the world, what's going through your head."

Shawn Michaels: "Well, it seems, uh, like we've done this before. And uh, this time, unfortunately for me, it's much more serious than last time. I've never had, um, a doctor look at me in the face and say, uh, that I may never be able to wrestle again. And I was, uh, I was told that the other day. Of course, you know I, it's not something that I believe. But the fact is it's something that I have to deal with. Time has taken it's toll on, on my body."

Vince McMahon: "I know you're just as disappointed, more so than anyone else, that you're not defending the WWF title against Sycho Sid, or for that matter whomever would have been stacked up against you. And no one has taken on more challengers, no one in the history, who has ever won this championship belt, has ever had the schedule, has ever had to endure the kind of schedule that you have so readily taken upon yourself."

Shawn Michaels: "Well there's uh, one thing about me is I can't do anything halfway and I, and I come here and I hear the people and they chant uh, Sid's name or they chant Bret's name or they chant a lot of peoples' names, and one thing's for sure, you're going to have all of that in the future, um, and that's what I want for the World Wrestling Federation fans. In spite of, uh, what people may think about me, what I've always wanted for all these people is, is for them to have a good time and to enjoy themselves.

I've always tried to be the one to provide it whether it was on the good side or the bad side. But what was always important to me was the performance, was the performance so that these people, each time they reached in their pocket, they paid to get a WWF ticket, they didn't regret it because they knew that if they saw my name on the card they could yell, they could come and they could cheer and they could boo and they could do whatever they wanted as long as they had a good time.

Over the last couple of months, uh, there's been a lot of talk of people, uh, having bad attitudes and a lot revolving around this belt. Uh, all I know today is that one thing that's not going to revolve around this belt, for a long time, is going to be Shawn Michaels. I don't know where I'm at right now. I have to, uh, I have to have everything checked. I may have... I may be beyond reconstructive surgery. I may, or may not be able to fix it. But if I can't come back and perform at the level I performed at, before... I can't, I can't perform. I can't come out here and just go half-ass. I have to come out here and I have to romp and stomp and I have to get tossed around. I have to toss people around and I have to have fun.

The schedule over the last year I took on because I didn't feel like I could say no. I wanted to do everything. I wanted to enjoy my life as the WWF Champion. I wanted to, I wanted to ride in lear jets and ride in limousines and I wanted to be on TV shows and I wanted to do autograph sessions and I got to do every bit of that. If nothing else, I have all of that to take with me. Again, and I know right now we're in the middle of a time where toughness is real big here in the World Wrestling Federation, and unfortunately all I've got right now for you is a lot of sorrow, a lot of tears, and a lot of emotion. I don't have any toughness for anybody, so I guess, here you go, here's your belt. [Shawn übergibt Vince den Titelgürtel.]

What I'm going to do is go back home and see what's left for me; whether it'll be in this ring... whether it'll be out of this ring. I know that over the, uh, the last several months I've lost a lot of things and one of them has been my smile. And, and I know it doesn't mean a whole lot to everbody else, but it means a lot to me. So I have to go back and fix myself, and take care of myself, and I have to go back and I have to find my smile because somewhere along the line I lost it and I don't care, really, I don't care if it's unpopular, and I don't care if, uh, people want to make fun of me because I'm an emotional guy. But, um, this is all I've ever wanted to do and uh, over the last year I got to do it and whether you like me or not, I just want to tell you that, uh, last year was the most wonderful year of my life. And, uh, if I never do get to do it again, it'll be okay because I got to live one full year as being the number one guy in this business and it was the single greatest year of my life. And I have you to thank, and I have everybody here to thank, and it means a lot to me and, uh, I'm gonna go home now. Okay?" [Shawn umarmt Vince.]

Vince McMahon: "Ladies and gentlemen, SHAWN MICHAELS!" [Shawn umarmt den ebenfalls anwesenden Gorilla Monsoon und verlässt den Ring.]