Shawn Michaels put many a man down for the count with his finishing move, Sweet Chin Music — a devastating boot to the jaw commonly referred to in today’s wrestling ring as the Superkick.
There’s no way TheWrap was going to interview the WWE legend without geeking out over his storied squared-circle career, and we decided to go granular. This reporter asked the Heartbreak Kid to teach him how to throw the perfect Superkick.
“I don’t even know that I’d be the one to ask, because I don’t know if I throw it decently or not!” Michaels said.
Modesty will get you nowhere here, sir.
“I gotta say that I believe that ‘The Gentleman’ Chris Adams would be thrilled if he knew how big the old Superkick became all these years [later],” the one-time member of tag team The Rockers continued. “I don’t honestly ever remember it being anything that anyone knew about other than those of us that watched World Class Wrestling in the state of Texas way back in the day.
“Now it’s becoming this thing that … gets called my move, and to have so many people doing it now,” Michaels added. “To me, that’s the neat stuff about the wrestling business — those things that stand the test of time in a silly line of work.”
Among those keeping the move’s legacy alive these days are Dolph Ziggler and John Morrison/Johnny Mundo. Appropriately, the torch keeps getting passed in what the 51-year-old Michaels referred to as “a young man’s game.”
But back to the instructional portion of this post.
“It’s my understanding that it’s more of a hop and a skip, so to speak, and then putting it up there,” Michaels explained. “Technically, I think it’s a side-savate kick, I believe?”
It’s also just called a crescent kick, or simply a side kick, but the verbiage isn’t HBK’s strong suit.
“I could do any wrestling move, [but] I have absolutely no idea what the names are called,” he admitted. “One of the things I’ve learned is that no one knows less than the professional wrestling business than me. Honestly, I got by on God-given natural ability.”
Readers can catch Michaels’ return to WWE Monday on USA’s “Raw,” when he’ll be promoting upcoming faith-based film “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.” Check back with TheWrap then for more from our interview with the retired pro wrestler, including how he’s transitioned from ring stud to screen star.
Watch some of the grappler-turned-actor’s top Sweet Chin Music moments via the video above.