Summary

Shawn Michaels said he had no issue with other wrestlers using the superkick after his retirement, explaining that he never wanted to become one of the veterans who tried to slow down the business.

Speaking on *7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony*, Michaels recalled getting a call a few years after stepping away from full-time competition from a wrestler who wanted permission to use the move. Michaels said he believes that wrestler was Dolph Ziggler, and once he gave his approval, more talent started using the kick regularly.

Even with the move spreading across wrestling, Michaels said he still feels it remains closely tied to him. That idea has stayed part of his public image, even as his profile around WWE has remained strong through projects like his upcoming Peacock documentary.

Quote from Shawn Michaels

"I can remember with Sweet Chin Music, the superkick, it was a couple years after I retired, getting a phone call. One guy wanted to use it, and you know, asked if it was okay. I said, 'Yeah, it didn't matter to me.'"

Michaels later went on to say:

"I want to say it was Dolph Ziggler. And I just thought, like I said, 'sure.' I'm not there anymore. I've just never been someone who wanted to be an old-timer that stopped the progression and evolution of the business. I ran into that a lot, 'kids are killing the business,' 'you're going too fast.' I didn't want to be one of those guys.

So once I said yes to that one, it was like opening a floodgate. I guess I'll say this: I'm always happy, because that question comes up in nearly every interview I do. I still feel like the move is always going to be synonymous with me, which I appreciate.

And I think to myself, if I'm lying there on my deathbed and my biggest problem is that too many people were using the damn move, then I did good. I mean, come on, there's hardly anything to complain about."

Shawn Michaels and the superkick's legacy

Michaels made it clear that he sees the superkick as part of wrestling's normal evolution, not something that needed to be protected once his full-time in-ring run was over. That matters because it frames Sweet Chin Music less as a move he wanted locked away and more as a signature he believes fans will still connect to him first.

His comments also speak to how veterans shape the next generation. By pointing to Ziggler as the first wrestler he remembers approving, Michaels described a moment where one of wrestling's most recognizable finishers shifted from a personal trademark into a wider part of modern match structure.

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.