You can look through my posting here and the other place I've always given him his just due as far as in-ring ability goes. How is it OK that he faked injuries? No one in the history of WWE has gotten away with the shyt he pulled there's gotta be a reason for that other than his talent.
You have to look at it from a broader viewpoint. I think it's a combination of several factors. First, take yourself back into that time frame, WWE was on a downward spiral and Vince was at this most vulnerable position ever. Shawn was seen as the franchise guy, franchise guys get away with A LOT.
*Talent (Dude was creating ART and stories in the ring, even with the most horrible workers)
*Passion (He was a a guy who truly loved wrestling, you can just see it in his eyes, I know for a fact that the absolute higher ups in any type of company, RESPECT people who have the balls to speak their mind to their faces..although it has to be in combination with talent, work ethic charisma etc)
*Charisma (charismatic people tend to get away with a lot more)
*Power (the clique factor had a lot to do with it, when your top guys have a serious connection like that..they are calling shots. Vince couldn't afford to let Shawn be unhappy, he was crucial...you needed somebody to pass the torch to the Stone Cold's etc.... he was seen as the brighter younger, "next" dude after Bret, even as a kid I could see this)
There's also this huge misconception that Shawn wasn't part of the attitude era....the fact is, he SPARKED it. If it wasn't for Shawn constantly telling Vince to get with the times, you wouldn't have seen a Stone Cold etc. Because Vince wouldn't have been open and allowing of something like that in the first place. Shawn planted the seed of the attitude era. Let's not forget that right before his first retirement, they were transitioning into it.... DX, hello?
Combine all of this together, and it's not hard to see why Shawn got away with so much.
If you have a Lebron James on your team, you let him get away anything he wants and you turn the blind eye. Where as an Eddy Curry can only do so much before being penalized by the team.