Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels
What, back then, was an innovative and ‘extreme’ ladder match, now looks like a pretty standard ladder match to me. I still think it is a really good match – just the match is not anywhere near his best WM efforts. In saying all this, it has aged a lot better than Bret/Shawn did, and there was still some great moments. Shawn’s jump off of the ladder, the spot where Michaels falls on Ramon with the ladder, as well as Ramon’s suplex all looked pretty sore. Oh, and Michaels’s overselling was awesome as always lol.
But yeah, again, I’m going to rate this on how it would hold up nowadays, so I’ll go ***. Possibly generous, but giving this match any less would be criminal.
Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels
Really good match, was a ballsy move to only have the one fall, I think they should have had it be 1-1 at least then the overtime personally. W/E, I guess that’s what makes this match so unique.
The start was little dull, the first 10 was fine with the back and forth technical wrestling, but the next 10 had too many rest holds which made it pretty boring at that point for me. Michaels working over of Bret’s arms seemed a little random as well. It seemed like they were gonna make that the big thing of the match, Michaels trying to counter Bret’s power game, but then they just ignored it and it was forgotten? It picked up a little bit for the next 15-20 with Michaels taking a few great bumps. His flying clothesline, one of his Irish whips and when he was launched over the ropes from Bret all looked pretty damn sore.
The last 10 minutes were great except the annoying ass rest hold from Bret that lasted two minutes or so. They made it exciting at the end without the use of 4-5 false finishes which annoys the hell out of me these days. Bret’s sharpshooter was the perfect way to end, genuinely wasn’t sure whether Michaels was tapping or not.
The end of the overtime could have been a little more exciting, I would have had Bret duck the second SCM and have him lock in the Sharpshooter, only to be reversed. Oh well, as I said, better than numerous false finishes.
Definitely another one of those matches that doesn’t age well. I mean the fact they were making a big deal of moves like the hurricanrana and Michaels’s skinning of the car, whereas now they’re used in TV matches kind of shows the difference, Nevertheless, it’s a great match even now. Bret seemed to work as the heel and he did that extremely well, and Michaels’s usual flamboyancy was beautiful.
***1/2 (Granted, it would have most likely be near 5* back then)
Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels
Damn, I have such a soft spot for this match. They incorporate the storyline really well into the match. Jericho is just such an incredible heel worker, busting out Shawn’s moves was a really great touch. Working on the back of Michaels was predictable, yet logical due to injuries and Jericho’s moveset. A nice blend of mark out moments, technical wrestling and JR’s commentary make this match great. Crowd was great too.
****1/2
Triple H vs Chris Benoit vs Shawn Michaels
Absolutely love this match. It goes at 100MPH from start to finish and consequently it’s about as good a Triple Threat match as you’re ever gonna see. Michaels was always the third wheel in this one really, as the entire thing was about Benoit winning the title off of Trips. Still absolutely love that announce table spot, Benoit takes it like an absolute boss. Aside from that, finish was awesome, Benoit forcing a bloodied Triple H to tap after a couple of minutes in the crossface was just perfect. The celebration though, has to be one of the saddest things to watch looking back - so damn emotional.
As I say, as good a TT as I’ve ever seen. ****1/2
Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels
What a fapworthy contest this one is. I love the mat wrestling battle they have at the start, with Shawn coming out on top. It set an exciting tone for the match that Angle would have to go to all lengths in order to win the match. Once again, logically, Kurt targets the lower back of Shawn and apart from the slightly botched ‘Angle slam’ into the ring post, the offence was great. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but the crowd appeared to be pro-Angle and there were points where Michaels seemed to be wrestling as the heel a little bit which I though was awesome (The low blow, slaps etc).
There were some fantastic spots; In particular the moonsault/crossbody onto the announce table, which looked painful as hell. Also, there was a few near-falls which got me on first viewing and definitely had the crowd fooled as well. I legitimately thought it was game over after the top rope Angle slam.
Overall, it was a great match, great finish and a really hot crowd. One of my favourite matches ever.
****3/4
John Cena vs Shawn Michaels
I actually didn’t enjoy this one as much I remembered doing so. I am by no means a hater on Cena’s ring work, I actually find it to be pretty good sometimes, but Michaels carried this one for big parts of it. Two things piss me off about this match, and I’m not sure if either are entirely John’s fault. 1. His complete no selling of the knee after Shawn worked on it for a long period of the match. 2. I’m pretty sure Cena doesn’t actually execute one move that isn’t in the ‘five moves of doom’. Basically it was just punches, kicks, and his signature stuff.
Still, not gonna take too much away from him, it was still a great match and he took that Piledriver like a boss. Michaels was obviously different class throughout, made a potentially pretty poor main event with Cena a great one. Think their Raw bout is better however.
***3/4
Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels
Just a perfect match in every way. It basically booked itself in how it would go, obviously executed superbly by both men. It’s kind of funny, that in this match a 60 Y/O outshined Cena in the last one lol. I still can’t get over Shawn continuing after that broken rib; you would have thought he’d have toned it down, but not at all. He does another badass moonsault where Flair didn’t even catch him lmao. But yeah, Flair’s desperation to win, all the dirty moves, coupled with Michaels’s refusal to put him down were just great. The ending was perfect, everyone seen it coming, but it’s still just brilliance.
****
Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 25
Let’s be honest, there’s nothing I can say about this match that hasn’t already been said 100 times by now, it’s just flawless.
I think these two work together so well not only because of their extraordinary in-ring abilities, but the fact they have two characters that, despite being face, contrast each other so much. Michaels’s character is a douche that dances about in your face, getting under the skin of his opponent whilst entertaining the crowd. On the contrary, you have Undertaker, a guy who never acknowledges the crowd, he just decimates opponents, but his mind games are completely different from Shawn’s, using his creepy, Deadman ways to put opponents off their game; they are two characters that have an incredible amount of depth, which is something sadly lacking in the top faces of today.
Immediately Undertaker’s streak appears in more danger of ending than usual (to a casual) as Shawn is seemingly unfazed by Taker’s games, and he’s the one who is in fact antagonizing the Undertaker. The first ten or so mainly being Michaels is great, because it is unusual for Undertaker not to start off the dominant one. Of course Undertaker comes back and hits a few signature moves, before the two incredible rope dives. Firstly Shawn’s, which will be overlooked due to the spectacular dive which proceeded (right word?) it. He Moonsaults straight into the mats without any sort of protection, despite the fact only a year prior to that he broke a rib doing so. Then Taker one ups him and just goes fucking insane, practically breaking his neck. How he never got injured off of that I’ll never know.
Earlier on I complained about finisher fests. Well technically speaking, this one was a complete finisher fest. There’s 10-15 mins of basically just pure finishers. With this one though, it felt necessary. It didn’t bury the finishers, as this was just such a special occasion. Shawn’s kickout of the tombstone was beautiful - J.R and Taker’s reaction make it legendary lol. The final tombstone from the Moonsault was worthy of finishing a match as good as this. No roll through required from Taker from the turnbuckle catch, just a lovely transition into a TS.
These guys could have easily put in a half arsed effort and this match would still go down as a classic, but it is a testament to both of them that they were willing to risk their lives just to entertain us, yet again.
Best match I have ever seen.
*****
Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 26
This match is obviously outstanding, just like every other match I have commented on. However, it just doesn’t quite compare to the previous match with Taker somehow. I do like how it is less back and forth, because with Michaels getting that extended period of offence in the middle it genuinely makes it appear, at least a little bit, like The Streak was in jeopardy. The ending is, once again, one of those that just writes itself. It’s basically the exact same way that Flair went down, and it works.
It just seems to lack something that their first bout had somehow. Just a little less gripping for me. I’m going
****1/2
So, anyways….
1. Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker – WM25
2. Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle – WM21
3. Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker – WM26
4. Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho – WM19
5. Shawn Michaels vs Triple H vs Chris Benoit WM20
6. Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair – WM24
7. Shawn Michaels vs John Cena WM23
8. Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart WM12
9. Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon WM10
Expecting hate for putting the last two where I did. I’ve stated a few times, I appreciate the Impact they had and just how impressive those matches were at the time. They’re both still unbelievable performances, but looking at these matches from a neutral perspective, they have to go there on my last I’m afraid.
But yeah, feel free to rip to shreds anything I’ve just said, any reply is appreciated.
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