I hope everyone had a great holiday and got all the wrestling-related gifts that they wanted. I usually receive several wrestling books and DVDs as Christmas presents, but this year I only asked for – and received, thanks to my wife – one wrestling item. It was The Shawn Michaels Story: Heartbreak and Triumph DVD.

Right after we finished watching It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas night – that Mr. Potter was a fantastic heel, by the way – and the rest of my family went to bed, I popped in Disc 1 of the three-disc set. I spent the next several hours enthralled by Michaels’ very bumpy journey from young fan to iconic figure. I began watching Disc 2 last night.

Having read Michaels’ autobiography and watched earlier Michaels DVDs, I’m quite familiar with his story, but the presentation and fresh interviews make this compilation a worthy companion to the previously released material.

The Shawn Michaels Story not only chronicles the in-ring career of one of the best – perhaps the best – all-around performers in wrestling history, but it also documents his amazing transformation from a hot-headed, hard-living prima donna to a man of faith who seems totally at peace with himself. It’s apparent that the “Heartbreak Kid” easily could have ended up on the long list of wrestlers who died young had he taken a different path when he was at a crossroads in his life.

Some of Michaels’ most famous matches are not included in this set because they are on prior Michaels DVDs, but there still is a good selection of bouts. There’s one from 1985 in which a 19-year-old Michaels (billed as Sean Michaels from Georgia) gets squashed in 1 minute, 20 seconds by Billy Jack Haynes on a World Class Championship Wrestling broadcast. Even though he was an inexperienced enhancement guy, Michaels looked like he had a clue in the ring and even did a back-flip off the ropes.

There are several Rockers matches as well, including a classic against Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson and the infamous tag-team title match with the Hart Foundation in which the title changed hands but the switch was never acknowledged.

Not surprisingly, Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan – two wrestlers that Michaels has had problems with – don’t come off looking good. And when the subject of Michaels’ historic ladder match with Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X was brought up, there was a line that was attributed to Ric Flair about Michaels having a great match with a ladder and there just happened to be another guy in the ring.

I didn’t have a problem with that comment or how Hart and Hogan were depicted. There are two sides to every story, and this is Michaels’ side. Overall, I thought the DVD presented a fair and mostly accurate portrayal of Michaels, warts and all.

As for the extras, the most interesting are the segments that deal with Michaels’ involvement in his church and his real-life fistfight with then-tag-team partner Marty Jannetty.

If you’re even a casual Michaels fan, I highly recommend The Shawn Michaels Story. It’s an inspirational story that seems destined for a happy ending. And in pro wrestling, we can never have too many of them.