WWE Summerslam 2002 - Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H
The best story telling of the night, the long awaited return of HBK. Shawn had convinced Triple H to come to Raw as opposed to SmackDown but Triple H then turned on Shawn after a faux-DX reunion. This would be Shawn’s first match back since WrestleMania XIV and the crippling back injury that should have ended his career.
If there was any doubt as to whether or not Michaels could still “goâ€, this would put an end to them. Shawn throws his shirt in the face of The Game and goes on the attack. Trips tosses him to the floor but HBK gets right back in and spears Triple H. Rights now by Shawn, but Triple H gets a knockdown. Leap frog by Shawn, side steps and Shawn sends The Game over the top. PLANCHA by HBK! Shawn takes Triple H into the ring post now. Clothesline on the outside by Michaels. HBK tosses some weaponry into the ring, grabs a trashcan lid, but gets drilled with a knee. Triple h ELEVATES Michaels INTO THE SECURITY WALL AND CATCHES A BREATHER. Triple H leans out to grab Shawn but gets caught with a trashcan lid shot. Michaels SKINS THE CAT and clotheslines The Game. Trashcan shot now! Shawn goes up to the top rope and comes off with a double axe handle. HBK warms up the band but the kick misses and The Game hits a backbreaker. Triple H picks him up and hits another one. The referee wants to stop the match but neither man is having any of that. Triple H whips Michaels hard into the corner and HBK buckles. And a second time. Triple H tells Shawn to suck it and boots him in the face. Elbows directly to the back now by The Game and he gets a 2 count. Triple H goes to the floor and grabs a chair and drills Shawn across the back! Shawn is limp and The Game covers for 2. Shawn fights back from his knees but The Game takes him over with a suplex, only for Shawn to land on his feet and get 2 off a O’Conner roll up. Shawn sets too early and takes a facebuster. The Game throws a chair down and hits DDT on the chair! A nonchalant cover gets 2, but Shawn is busted wide open. Triple H takes Michaels’ belt off now and whips him with it, over and over. He wraps the belt around his fist and pummels Michaels in the head. Triple H pulls Michaels up and drops him with a right. The Game to the floor and pulls out… the sledgehammer! Michaels stops him with a couple of kicks and punches to the gut though. To his feet and Michaels fires off with rights and The Game drops the hammer. Triple H reverses an Irish whip to send Shawn to the corner, and now The Game applies an abdominal stretch! He even grabs the top rope for leverage. Earl Hebner refuses to take Triple H’s shit and shoves him. Earl’s awesome here; “Knock it off! I’m sick of it. I’m sick of everything!†The Game walks into another shot to the gut from Michaels. Shawn gets slowed down with a knee though and Triple H sets him up on the top turnbuckle. The Game goes up but Shawn knocks him back down again. The fans come alive as Shawn rises… but Triple H shoves the referee into the ropes and Shawn gets crotched. Shawn’s in an inverted tree of woe, so Triple H kills him with a chair shot! The Game sets the chair up and hits backbreaker on the chair, crippling it. Triple H covers but Shawn kicks out. The Game goes back to the cover a few more times but cant’t get the win. The Game levels out the chair and hits a sidewalk slam on it! Triple H covers him three times but can’t get the win. Massive “HBK†chants now. The Game wants a Pedigree on the chair, but Shawn drops down and scores with a low blow! Both men pull themselves up, but The Game has a chair… SWEET CHIN MUSIC! Foot to chair to face! Shawn can’t capitalize though. Triple H is pissing blood from that one. Both men up. Right by Shawn, and another, and a third, one more. Triple H reverses a whip but gets caught with a flying forearm… KIP UP! The crowd explodes as Michaels back drops The Game. Shawn has a chair and KILLS Triple H with it! Shawn whips The Game into the corner and over the top. Michaels goes out now and nails The Game with a trashcan lid. Michaels has that leather belt now and whips Triple H with it a few times. Trashcan shot now! The crowd want tables. Michaels drills The Game with the trashcan lid again and knocks The Game across the announce table. Michaels takes off the Spanish announcer’s boot and hits Trips with it. HBK runs around the ring and hits a bulldog onto the steel steps! HBK goes under the ring and pulls out a ladder! The Game up… and drilled with the ladder. Shawn drives the ladder into the gut of Triple H three times and then leans the ladder up against the ring post. Triple H reverses a whip but puts the breaks on, takes Triple H down and catapults Triple H into the ladder! Back in, Michaels covers and gets a near fall. Shawn tries to bring the ladder in but The Game hits a baseball slide to send the ladder into Michaels’ ribs. Triple H uncharacteristically goes to the top but Shawn heads him off, goes up and hits a superplex! Michaels floats over and gets 2! Michaels comes off the ropes and crucifixes into a sunset flip for 2 but gets up and is met with a high knee for 2. Triple H brings the steel steps into the ring abut Shawn gets a drop toehold and The Game eats the steel. HBK clotheslines Triple H out, then HBK goes out and pulls out a table! Shawn drops The Game with a right and sets up the table. HBK drills Triple H across the skull with a fire extinguisher to set him up on the table. Michaels goes in, up top… SPLASH OFF THE TOP THROUGH THE TABLE! Big “holy shit†chants for that one. The Game eventually gets up and rolls back in but Shawn brings the ladder in. He sets it up in the corner and climbs… to the top… ELBOW DROP FROM THE LADDER! And Shawn’s OK! He’s still got it, indeed. The band is tuning up… the crowd is on their feet… The Game is up… blocks the kick… Pedigr-NO… Jack-knife roll-up… ONE…TWO…THREE! Shawn celebrates but Triple H drills him in the back with the sledgehammer! Michaels is on his knees now and The Game drills him in the back again! He tells Shawn to suck it. Triple H leaves the ring as the biggest dick in the world as EMTs attend to Shawn. The Game is laughing. JR is awesome here, calling him every name under the sun. Michaels gets stretchered out of the ringside area. Simply legendary, and the best HHH/HBK match they ever had together. ****3/4