 Well, you could call
Shawn Michaels a modern day
gladiator.
His job was to knock
out the other guy
and put on a show along the way.
In fact, he was involved in
the match of the year 11 times.
Now Shawn has stepped away
from the squared circle,
but his job of putting on a
show for the audience still
very much alive.
REPORTER: Shawn Michaels
emerged in the 1990s
as an international
wrestling star in the WWE.
His legendary skills
and rebel persona
solidified him as one of
the most popular wrestlers
of all time.
Now a Christian, Shawn is
open about his faith and stars
as Doug in the new film "The
Resurrection of Gavin Stone."
The movie hits
theaters January 20.
 Please welcome back to "The
700 Club" Shawn Michaels.
Hey, Shawn.
Nice to meet you.
 Thank you very much.
 I see you wore your hat
because it's so cold here right
now.
 Well, part of that-- I mean,
it's sort of like half me.
I'm half still
Doug in character.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Oh, I gotcha.
I gotcha.
 I've had a 25 year
identity crisis.
I have no idea who
I am half the time.
 Well, Kevin Leman
was in shorts,
and you've got your
hat on, so that's cool.
 Oh yeah.
 All right, well, you
were once one of the-- no,
the most popular
wrestler on the planet.
What was life like for Shawn
Michaels at that point?
SHAWN MICHAELS:
Well, I don't know.
That might be a
stretch, but I will
admit early on, younger,
I-- you want it,
but I didn't handle
it very well.
I mean, I really didn't.
It was-- it's the phrase be
careful what you wish for.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Yeah.
SHAWN MICHAELS: And I did
not hold up real well.
I put a lot of pressure on
myself, and then of course
that caused me to get into
a lot of trouble and--
WENDY GRIFFITH: What
kind of trouble?
 Well, gosh.
I mean, I was difficult
professionally
to deal with, and
obviously personally.
Gosh, you get into drinking,
you get into drugs.
You get into womanizing,
doing all sorts of stuff
again that just really--
WENDY GRIFFITH:
But you were still
able to keep in incredible
shape and do your job.
 Yeah, well, no-- well, that's
the thing is you're-- just
because you're good at it
doesn't mean it isn't true.
I mean, that doesn't
mean you have problems.
So that's one of the things.
It's pretty easy to
convince yourself
it's not really a problem
because you're not--
you're not homeless.
You're not living
on the streets.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Yeah.
 You've still got
money in the bank.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Well,
they called you the--
 You live in a big house.
You got nice cars.
How can that be a bad thing?
WENDY GRIFFITH: They called
you the heartbreak kid.
Why did you get that nickname?
 Well, that actually-- it's
a buddy of mine, Mr. Perfect,
Curt Hennig.
It was something that was
used in a Chris LeDoux song,
and he just sent
it to me one day.
And then all of a sudden when
I went to my singles career
and was a bad guy and had a
cocky and arrogant attitude,
it was just something
that naturally flowed,
and then I just-- it's one of
those things that you say it
enough times it becomes--
WENDY GRIFFITH: Of course.
SHAWN MICHAELS: --a real thing.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Well, Shawn,
what finally broke your heart?
 Well, it was the combination
of the prayers of my wife that
I-- again, met her, everything
happened very quickly.
We got married, and then
we started a family.
And honestly, it was
holding that little boy
and realizing that
the only way he
was going to be able to
turn into a decent man
was by seeing it in his dad.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Sure.
 And it still took two
years after holding him
for that to happen,
but it was a night
where I was not in great shape.
And I could hear him
say daddy's tired,
and that's the day that it
really dawned on me that
he's beginning to see
it now, and I cannot--
I can't raise my baby this way,
and then eventually years later
had a daughter.
But it was that moment, it
was that realization that he--
WENDY GRIFFITH: That moment.
I've got to change.
 Yeah, and I went
into Cornerstone Church
in San Antonio and, again,
I said I need a Bible study
or I need something.
I knew what I was looking
for was in that big building.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Wow.
So, you literally went
in there on your own.
 Oh, yeah.
I did.
I went into their office
looking somewhat like this.
I think they were worried I
was going to rob the place,
and then it was like
I need a Bible study.
And, of course, a
gentleman invited me,
and then it just
happened after that.
I received Christ
as Lord and Savior.
I bawled like a baby.
And the greatest thing--
WENDY GRIFFITH: That's when
you know it really happened.
 Oh, yeah.
See, the best thing is that,
I mean, they took care of me.
They nurtured me.
It wasn't just
salvation and see ya.
They discipled me.
I got into a good group.
I went to my Bible study.
They were constantly with me.
They helped me.
Because there was so much
going on and so fast,
and I didn't really know.
I was raised Catholic, so I
knew "church," so to speak.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Sure, yeah.
 But, I mean, my goodness,
the first time I walked
into a Christian church and
da-da-da, I mean, I was like,
oh, my goodness.
What's going on?
WENDY GRIFFITH: I know.
I was the same way.
 It freaked me out,
and oh my goodness.
 I actually felt
electricity in the air.
I mean, after you've been in
dead churches all your life
and then you come into a place
like that where everybody's
raising their hands, it is
a little freaky at first.
SHAWN MICHAELS: Yeah,
it scared me at first,
and then of course all these
years later I'm da-da--
WENDY GRIFFITH: I know.
Now we're one of them.
 I'm the worst.
Get up in the-- [LAUGHING]
WENDY GRIFFITH: Now
we're one of them.
Well, you are back
in the limelight.
You've been out of professional
wrestling for how many years?
 I retired in 2010.
WENDY GRIFFITH: OK,
so, now you're back.
 I still go back
every now and then,
kick somebody, yell at somebody,
get yelled at, whatever.
 Well, you've got to.
I mean, it's just fun.
 Sure, yeah.
 So you're doing a feature
film, your very first one.
It's called "The
Resurrection of Gavin Stone."
I watched it.
It's an amaze-- I cried
so much at the end.
It's a great movie.
I mean, you laugh and you cry.
Tell us about-- well, first of
all, what is the movie about?
SHAWN MICHAELS: Well, it's
about a former child star.
Brett Dalton from
"Agents of Shield"
just does a phenomenal job--
WENDY GRIFFITH:
He's a great actor.
SHAWN MICHAELS:
--as Brett Dalton.
He really is.
WENDY GRIFFITH: A great actor.
 And I have to say
he was so much help.
He was so awesome to me.
I had no-- you know, I was
very honest with everybody.
I don't know what I'm doing.
But everybody-- Dallas Jenkins,
the director-- everybody
was spectacular.
But it's about a former
washed up child star.
He gets in trouble again
and trying to get out
of doing what-- his service.
He's like, oh, I'll
do community service.
It's the easiest thing to do.
I can do it in the church.
And then while
he's in the church,
he takes it a step farther.
He's trying to get out of even
doing his work at the church
by pretending to be a
Christian and then sees
that they're putting
on an Easter pageant
and, like, I'll help
you guys do that.
And it's much like "Sister Act."
It's somebody that
comes from the outside
and trying to use
the church as a ploy
to get by with something, but
then the people in the church
have an effect on him.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Your role
is a little bit smaller,
but it's an important role.
You play an ex-con who's
now a born again Christian.
 Yes.
 And you're a friend
to him, friend to the--
 And it is.
I mean, I play Doug, and he is.
He's an ex-biker, an ex-con.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Did
you like acting?
 I did.
I loved the process.
It was fascinating.
Clearly I've done some
acting before in wrestling,
but this was very different,
much, much more challenging,
more intimate.
And, again, I did.
I mean, it was a
great thrill to do,
and obviously we're proud of
the film coming out January 20.
It's in theaters and--
WENDY GRIFFITH: I loved it.
SHAWN MICHAELS: --hopefully
folks will go out and see it.
 Absolutely.
You've got to see "The
Resurrection of Gavin Stone."
Where can we see it?
When does it come out?
SHAWN MICHAELS: It opens
in theaters January 20.
It's next Friday.
WENDY GRIFFITH: Ah,
Inauguration Day.
 Yeah.
And it is.
It is.
It's got a pretty decent
release and be in the theaters.
I'm very excited about
it, very excited.
 Well, I wish we had more time.
It's great to see you.
SHAWN MICHAELS: Thanks so much.
 And congratulations
on your acting debut.
You can also hear more
from Shawn Michaels
today in our exclusive
Facebook interview.
To watch that, just go
to Facebook.com/700Club.
Shawn, God bless you.
Thanks so much for joining us.
SHAWN MICHAELS:
Thank you, ma'am.
