The Shawn Michaels Appreciation Thread

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Cant believe I almost forgot this; but 18 years ago tonight on RAW, Triple H was exposed as the guy who attacked Shawn from behind in the parking lot the previous week on Raw, and on this night Shawn announced he was coming back to 'fight' Triple H at SummerSlam 2002. I can remember when Shawn said it at the end of his promo, literally jumping out of my seat and jumping up and down for at least a minute screaming at the top of my lungs in happiness. For the previous 2 years or so, I gave up on him wrestling again as it just seemed from 2000 on like he just didn't want to wrestle anymore. Thank goodness that was NOT the case. One of my favorite moments of Shawn's career. Enjoy!:

 

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23 years ago tonight on Raw, Shawn took on Mankind. I've always enjoyed this match between Shawn and Mick. This is 11 months after their absolute classic from September 1996 at IYH: Mind Games that was legit the 1996 Match of the Year. This match from Raw does get credit as one of the most underrated matches of this era, so that's cool. I like how they made this match alittle bit more street fight-ish like they did at Mind Games the previous year since it was in ECW country, in Philly. The elbow off of the ring apron on to Mick on the announce table is a cool spot. Using the big trash can and putting it over Mick's head was creative, too. I like the gear Shawn wore in this match, too. This is the gear he wore at Survivor Series 1996 vs. Sid at MSG when he lost the title to Sid. This is the first time he wore that gear since.



Also, on the first segment of Raw on this night, was a Shawn promo. This is the infamous promo where the first few rows of fans behind the announce table were chanting, "Shawn is gay!" at him, and Shawn respinded with "Why don't you ask your sister and your mama just how gay Shawn is (insert crotch chop here): :LOL: Here it is in gif form:

 

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18 years ago tonight, one of the, if not the greatest comebacks in wrestling history took place, as Shawn Michaels returned to the ring for the first time in 4 years and 5 months (to be exact). Shawn returned to take on his best friend Triple H in a 'street fight' match at SummerSlam 2002 at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, NY. This arena is an hour away from where I grew up, so I was able to attend and so glad I did. The crowd was hot from start to finish and was so behind Shawn winning. The crowd was great and took the match up a few notches, too. I'll never forget the adrenaline I felt seeing my favorite have a match for the first time in 4.5 years and seeing it live. And not only that, but to see him tear it up. Going into that match, there was alot of questions about whether or not Shawn would be able to live up to his previous work in the 90's. I remember being alittle worried about it myself, too. Shawn even had Vince tell the commentators (JR) to sell the story that Shawn is not the 'showstopper' anymore. He's not "HBK" anymore. He's just Shawn Michaels looking for revenge and that this is gonna be a street fight and nothing more. So, Shawn was worried about his performance, too. But boy, did he have nothing to worry about and had an absolute banger out there. What a fucking GOAT.

This is the match promo they aired before the match. It's one of the best ones they've ever done:



Full match:

 

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25 years ago tonight was SummerSlam 1995, and the rematch between Shawn and Razor for the IC Title in a ladder match. One of my favorite Shawn matches of all time. There are also some that feel this match was better than their first ladder match at WM 10. I love them both equally, tbh. I also LOVE the gear Shawn wore for this match with the blue pants. He rarely wore blue in his career for some reason when you think about it. Also, one of my favorite Shawn bumps of all time took place in this match and is always played in any Shawn highlight video:

Full match:

 

[Chris]

I'd probably rank the ladder matches equal as well, both stand out in their own way. Gun to my head I'd probably say the 'Mania one is my favorite though.

 

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I'd probably rank the ladder matches equal as well, both stand out in their own way. Gun to my head I'd probably say the 'Mania one is my favorite though.

Same for me, as well. They are very close, but if I had to pick one, I'd go with WM 10.

 

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Although I admit, I might be slightly biased since I attended WM 10 live and in person.

 

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Just bought these two bad boys on WWE Shop! Royal Rumble 1997 and HELL IN A CELL 1997 HBK ATTIRE BASKETBALL STYLE SHORTS (and you guys know how much I love both these gears, especially the HIAC GEAR!)

CANT FUCKING WAIT to get these!

 

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23 years ago tonight, Shawn and Taker had their first match ever at IYH: Ground Zero. 3 years ago, on the 20 year anniversary of the match, I wrote a review of said match for another website. Here is that review if you guys might be interested in reading if you're bored or something. It's somewhat long, but I had a great time writing it:

Today marks the 20 year anniversary of the first televised (in this case, PPV) match between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker on September 7, 1997. The PPV was In Your House: Ground Zero; in Louisville, KY.

History: The 1997 feud between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels got it's start the previous month at SummerSlam 1997 (which I attended). Shawn was named the special guest referee for WWF World Title Main Event match between the then WWF World Champion Undertaker and Bret Hart. However, there was another stipulation for this match due to the heat and history between Shawn and Bret. If Shawn, in any way, favored Undertaker, he would not be allowed to wrestle in the US ever again. If Bret lost the match, he would be prohibited from wrestling in the US ever again.

As we all know, Shawn swung a chair to try hit Bret, but Bret ducked and the chair met the top of the Undertaker's skull. Bret covered Taker, and Shawn was forced to make the 3 count for his longtime enemy. This, then moved Undertaker into a feud with Shawn, with a match that culminated on this date, 20 years ago tonight.

Short Pre-Match Official Promo Video:


"I don't give a damn what anybody...thinks of ME."
"What lays in the darkness, is a demon.."
"Undertaker, you and I have never crossed paths...until now!"
"I will possess your soul..."

Match: This match, in a way, almost served as an appetizer/tease to a much bigger course that we would all get the following month. But that doesn't stop this match from being a good, intense, high energy brawl.

Shawn makes his way down the entrance ramp, and spits on some fans in the crowd, who then return fire with throwing some garbage at him, resulting in Shawn giving us that wonderful shit-eating grin, as it seemed to amuse him.

Interestingly enough, this 'match' starts off with the Undertaker knocking out ref Mike Chioda, before he can even ring the bell! Taker and Shawn then proceed to have a 6 minute brawl, all over the arena, before the match even officially starts. That was pretty crazy for back then, and hell, would be pretty crazy for today, as well. During those 6 minutes, Taker was VERY dominant, as he should've been, landing punch after punch on Shawn. At one point, when they are at the top of the entrance ramp, Taker literally throws Shawn down the steel ramp and Shawn proceeds to bump down the entire length of the steel ramp. He felt that one the next morning.

One of the things I always liked about the HBK/Taker 1997 matches was just how aggressive and violent the action was, on both guys' part, and this was no different. The action is so deliberate and not rushed. After the brawl, HBK sneaks in to the ring while Taker has his back turned for a second, and he chop blocks Taker, and the bell officially rings. That is one of the sickest pre-match brawls I've ever seen, if not the best televised one.

This match comes at a time when the crowd was used to, for years, the bigger guy, for the most part, being the heel, and the smaller guy, being the underdog babyface. It always amazed me in these set of matches that Shawn was able to keep his heat and Taker stayed getting his pops. The ref finally rings the bell with Shawn trying his best to bring Taker down on a sunset-flip, but Taker just over-powers him and lifts him up to the air with both hands and the crowd loves it. Shawn sent onto the top turnbuckle on his stomach, and Taker is just kicking the shit out of his stomach repeatedly, before ending the sequence with a stiff forearm for a 2 count.

Early on, the power display of Taker is on full display, as it seems like he's just toying with Shawn and taking his time, via the power-game, where Shawn is no-match for 'Taker. Shawn does counter 'Old School', though as Taker lands on his nuts. Shawn with the baseball slide with Taker outside of the ring. Shawn gets caught as Taker catches him jumping over the top and bangs Shawns' back into the post twice. Shawn gets up and spits in a fans' face. And they go back in the ring...

Taker with a low-blow right in front of the ref that Vince tries to cover up with that the ref is too scared of Taker to DQ him. Shawn gets backbody-dropped into nearly the ceiling. Insane the amount of air he used to get on those. Those couldn't be good for his back. Just saying. Shawn eventually counters with a spinning-neckbreaker, but Taker 'rises' up and Shawn walks to the outside and gets a chair. Taker stalks him and foils Shawn's attempted chair-shot. Good callback spot there to SummerSlam with the chair, which started this feud. Ref pulls back the chair when Taker tries to hit Shawn with it and Shawn regains control with the distraction with a dropkick to Taker. Ref bumped. Shawn drops two of his patented elbows in a row. Taker and Hebner are down.

Shawn goes for the pin, but Earl is still out of it with a slow 2 count and Rick Rude makes his way down to ringside, and tosses Shawn some brass knuckles which he promptly knocks Taker out with and goes for the pin, but Earl is still out of it. In comes another ref, but another 2 count, and Shawn knocks him out. HHH and Chyna are now ringside as they realize they need as much man-power as possible for this one..

Shawn continues to stomp on Taker while the ref situation is in complete disarray. HHH pounding away on Taker on the outside and Chyna gets in a shot with sending Taker into the steel steps. It's like 4 on 1 now. And Shawn helps Earl up, only to send him head-first into the turnbuckle and laughs about it. Seems like the entire crowd is standing up, but kind of in shock with the refs being a complete non-factor in this match/brawl.

Fans chant 'Rest in Peace' as Taker starts to fire-up a comeback with a bunch of hard-rights. Shawn fights back with some kicks and clotheslines Taker outside of the ring for HHH to get some shots in. Taker no-sells a Chyna punch, and Shawn comes off the top rope with an ax-handle that gets Taker down. Nice sequence there. The story here is that the numbers are too much for Taker to overcome as Shawn chokes Taker with a cable and HHH kicks Taker repeatedly on the outside of the ring.

Back in the ring, Shawn slips out of a tombstone attempt, goes for some Sweet Chin Music, only for Taker to catch Shawn's foot and sends him into the corner and takes his brass knuckles out of his tights. Taker knocks Shawn down with the brass knuckles and knocks HHH down from the apron. Pin attempt, but Taker only gets a loooong 2 count. Taker then chokeslams Hebner and hits a flying clothesline on Shawn only for another ref to come down and end the match.

Post match Happenings: Back and forth between the two, and Shawn hits a superkick that locks Taker up in the ropes. But he's able to block a chairshot with his foot and almost tombstones Shawn, only for HHH to stop that. Brisco and other officials are in the ring as Shawn and Trips knock them down. Taker hits a tombstone on HHH. This is the show in which Taker debuted his tope over the top rope onto the outside as he lands on seemingly the majority of the WWF roster. Awesome visual and ending to the show. :clap

****1/4

Review: Well, if people thought they were just going to get a traditional one on one match here; they couldn't be more wrong. Hard-hitting, brass knuckles, chairs, multiple referees getting knocked the fuck out by BOTH Shawn and Undertaker. A brutal 6 minute pre-match brawl spanning from the top of the entrance ramp to all the way onto the Spanish announce table ringside. Taker working a brutal, hard-hitting style, with Shawn trying to use his quickness and speed to dodge the Undertaker. While, at the same time, using his stable-mates to his advantage on the outside of the ring and trying to get Undertaker on the outside of the ring multiple times during the match. Good psychology all around. Let's be honest, there has to be some great psychology here for the smaller guy getting his ass kicked almost the entire match to maintain his heat, which he did and the bigger guy get cheered which is exactly what happened.

This match definitely sent the viewer two messages here:

1) The numbers game was too much for Taker to deal with all by himself in a tradition one on one setting. HBK, HHH, Chyna, Rude vs one man was just too much.

2)) This feud was far from over and was just the appetizer to a much bigger deal the following month. The constant interference from HHH, Chyna, and Rick Rude was the perfect reason from a story aspect on WHY they made a "Hell in a Cell" the very next month; so these two can have a one on one match with NO outside interference. Amazing! Stuff actually made sense for this company back then! Most people, at the time, thought Taker/HBK would have a cage match the following month. They were half-right. They just didn't know what kind of cage. And the fact that it would go down as one of the, and in my opinion, THE greatest match in company history on October 5, 1997.

That's the review. Since the pre-match promo video to hype the match that I posted in this review is no longer on Youtube (thanks WWE), I googled and found two different pre-match hype videos for this match which I think are pretty cool. Enjoy:

 

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Today is the 23 year anniversary of my favorite match of all time in Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker, in the very first Hell in a Cell match ever. 3 years ago today, on the 20 year anniversary of the match, I wrote an in=depth review of the match. Here is the review if anyone is interested in checking it out:

20 YEARS AGO TODAY


Today marks the 20 year anniversary of the WWF: In Your House PPV: Badd Blood. It marked the debut of the 'Hell in a Cell' match gimmick in a match featuring Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker.

First, if you missed my review of Shawn/Undertaker I, the previous month, at IYH: Ground Zero, here is the link:

http://www.wrestlingforum.com/wwe-s...shawn-michaels-fan-thread-4.html#post70155057

History: History: The 1997 feud between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels got its start the previous month at SummerSlam 1997 (which I attended). Shawn was named the special guest referee for WWF World Title Main Event match between the then WWF World Champion Undertaker and Bret Hart. However, there was another stipulation for this match due to the heat and history between Shawn and Bret. If Shawn, in any way, favored Undertaker, he would not be allowed to wrestle in the US ever again. If Bret lost the match, he would be prohibited from wrestling in the US for the rest of his career.

As we all know, Shawn swung a chair to try hit Bret, but Bret ducked and the chair met the top of the Undertaker's skull. Bret covered Taker, and Shawn was forced to make the 3 count for his longtime enemy. This, then moved Undertaker into a feud with Shawn, with a match that culminated at IYH: Ground Zero. That match was a disaster that ended with multiple referees getting beatdown, DX constantly interfering, and a finish without a real winner. To prevent the constant interference, WWF thought it would be a good idea to put these two men in a cage. But not just the same old, blue, steel cage WWF fans had grown accustomed to. They put these guys in a cell to keep it one on one between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Sounded like a good idea on paper. Little did we know that we would get in what my opinion is the greatest match in company history, 20 years ago today..

[YOUTUBE]

Shawn Michaels, has his date with destiny..
Undertaker, I'm going to take you down and bury you underneath that ring!
There's only way out, through my dead body...
Do you know who the hell I am?​

Match: Taker starts to stalk HBK as like a savage stalking it's prey on the outside of the ring. Taker has all of the time in the world to get revenge is the message they're sending here. Taker with a big boot to Shawn's face as Vince says, "This won't be pretty." Little did we all know. Shawn flies off the bottom turnbuckle as Taker sends Shawn's head thru the top turnbuckle. Taker going for the choke-slam, but Shawn kicks him in the knee and gets some big rights in. Shawn does his turnbuckle flip spot and walks into a hard Taker clothes-line as Shawn literally bounces off the canvas like a basketball. Shawn was such a great, natural bumper. Taker works Shawn's arm and goes 'old school' on Shawn's arm/shoulder. "Rest in Peace" chant as the fans feel no sympathy for Shawn getting his ass kicked. Taker with the body-slam and leg-drop that gets a 2 count. Back-body-drop as Shawn's feet hit the top of the cell. Shawn now feeding Taker as he's bumps for his strikes and Taker then throws Shawn to the outside as he landed directly on his side/hip as doesn't block his fall with his hands at all:

Taker raises Shawn with all his might up against the cell and Shawn counters with an eye-poke. But Taker is still in control as he yanks him down from the side of the cell. I love how they are taking their time here and absolutely nothing is rushed. Taker sends Shawn into the cell as if it's the ropes and Shawn bounces off, only to get clothes-lined down onto the floor. This happens twice in a row as the crowd pops for it. Vince is doing a great job on commentary that Taker can take his time here with getting his revenge on Shawn since they are in a cell and there can be no HHH or Chyna or Rude interference. In a cool spot, Taker goes for the power-bomb in the corner of the cell, only for Shawn to land on Taker's shoulders and start pummeling him. Very creative. Taker regains control and sends Shawn's back into the ring-post. That had to hurt. Shawn is pretty much a sitting duck in this cell. As Vince says, "this is not a good night if you're a Shawn Michaels fan," as Taker has controlled the match with a deliberate, but stern pace. Taker holds Shawn like he's a baby and slams his back into the ring-post and cell back and forth. It's just physical domination at this point and the crowd is loving seeing Taker get his revenge on Shawn for costing him the WWF Title at SummerSlam.

Taker sends Shawn into the cell-side again, but Shawn ducks a clotheslines and regains control after a solid 8 minutes or so. Shawn flees into the ring to get himself together. Taker hits what appears to be a Stunner on Shawn with Shawn's throat meeting the top rope. But Shawn gets up first and sends Taker back outside the ring. Shawn hits a suicide dive between the ropes on Taker and slams into the side of the cell. Shawn, then, with a really, cool innovative moves, climbs up the cell and drops one of his patented elbows on Taker:

Shawn then gets up and spits on some fan in the front-row who appeared to get in his face and say something. Shawn now has control as he hits a clothes-line on Taker from the apron to the outside. The psychology here is that Shawn has regained control (finally) but in order for him to regain control he has to sacrifice his body; i.e.; the elbow from the side of the cell, the tope through the ropes, clothes-line from the apron; and will he be able to keep that control on Taker or will his body give out first? Really good stuff there. Also, about half-way through the match now and it can't be emphasized enough how even though Shawn is the small heel getting his ass kicked, he's retained his heat and the fans have NOT gotten sympathetic for him. That is a great heel and a great baby-face doing their thing. They were over, and over in the way that they SHOULD be. :clap

Shawn in full control using the steps on Taker's back repeatedly. One of the spots of the night right here has Shawn hits an epic pile-driver on Taker on the top of the steel steps.:

As Shawn is trying to get up, the camera man gets in his way, and Shawn kicks the camera and curses at him. More of Shawn being Shawn...or is there a point to that? As we will learn later, there is a point to that and it's a work. Shawn crawls back into the ring as they appear to be having technical difficulties (or are they, or is someone/thing ominous about to go down later on?), Shawn hits a double ax-handle on Taker on the outside. Say what you want about Shawn, but he's looking pretty resilient here after that ass-kicking from earlier. Shawn comes back in with a chair as Vince correctly points out, "That's what started it all in the first place, a chair!" Love the psychology and call-back here to SummerSlam and really, the entire build. This is storytelling at it's finest. Shawn hits Taker with a stiff chair-shot on the back as Taker goes down:

JR correctly exclaims, "AND MICHAELS HAS TO DO WHAT MICHAELS HAS TO DO.. TO SURVIVE!" Exactly. Shawn delivers another chair-shot to Taker's back and throws the chair outside the ring. This only gets a 2 count on Taker, though. Shawn and Taker trade rights back and forth. Shawn regains control and locks Taker in the ropes and starts peppering him with some rights. Earl gets Shawn off of Taker, and charges Taker, but Taker hits a boot only for Shawn to come back and get back-body-dropped out of the ring and onto that same camera-man. Shawn goes ballistic and punches the cameraman out:

(Funny sidenote on the cameraman: Over the years up until a few years ago, I used to think the cameraman was 2 Cold Scorpio. It wasn't just the small ponytail the camerman had, but also the fact that if you watch this, they went out of their way NOT to show this guys' face, but only the back of the head, and he had the same hairstyle that Scorpio had at times. But it wasn't him. It was just a local St. Louis indy wrestler that they hired for this spot in the match. He did a good job. )

HBK then proceeds to stomp the cameraman as hey lay there helpless on the ground. Poor guy. Shawn the goes over and yells at Vince at the commentary table. I remember there used to be people (might still be) who thought all of this was real with the cameraman and yelling at Vince. When in reality, it was just creating drama for the match and an opportunity to open up the cell door to get the cameraman "help." People are so easy to work. Shawn hits his patented flying forearm on Taker, and kips up. Shawn then hits Taker with his patented elbow drop:

https://www.rondarousey.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/01a_HBKTAKER_001.jpg

Sgt. Slaughter had made his way down to attend to the injured cameraman. The ref (Earl Hebner) is unlocking the cell so Slaughter and the EMTs can help get the wounded camera-man out of there. Again, excellent psychology and good reasoning for them to open up the cell door.

Back in the ring Shawn is tuning up the band for some Sweet Chin Music and he nails Taker in the chin with the bottom of his boot, but Taker gets right back up like a man possessed!:

Crowd pops huge for that, as they know the shit is now on to an even higher level! Shawn makes his way out of the ring, seeing Hebner and Slaughter opening up the door for the cameraman and is able to actually sneak his way out! Taker stalks him from behind and both men are out of the cell for the first time all night! Shawn strikes Taker with two hard rights and dropkicks him into the cell. HBK tries another dropkick but Taker catches his legs and slingshots him into the cell! The fans are going crazy at this point, as this is all brand new stuff. Shawn is now bleeding as he hits the floor. Taker, back in control, is pummeling Shawn with some hard rights of his own. He picks Shawn up on his shoulder, runs, and sends his face into the cell! He then does it again! This moment would be shown at the opening of Raw for years to come, even when Shawn was retired in the late 90's. Iconic moment:

Shawn regains control with a kick to the nuts. He's desperate at this point and a bloody mess. Shawn begins to climb the cell as Taker tries to get him down, but can't do it. Both men are at the top of the cell and the St. Louis crowd is going nuts before they even get physical up there! It truly is a spectacle of a sight! Shawn gets back-body-dropped onto the cell ceiling and the fans are losing their shit! Taker grates Shawn's face on the cell and a drop of Shawn's blood goes through the cell onto the cameraman's lens, and you can clearly hear the cameraman yell, "AH SHIT!" Can't believe they didn't edit that out. Taker then gorilla pres slams Shawn onto the cell ceiling! Shawn makes his way over to the side of the cell to try to climb down it peacefully, but Taker catches him and isn't going to let him off that easy! Shawn's legs are now dangling from left to right off the cell as Taker as a hold of Shawn's upper body and the fans can't believe what they are seeing. It's like waiting for the Michael Myers to kill his prey. The fans love it!

Taker, finally, just stomps on Shawn's hands, one by one, as they are the only thing holding him up at this point. Shawn, then, flies off the side of the cell and CRASHES through the announce table!!! The crowd is going nuts as they really can't believe they just what they saw!

This was the biggest bump in history of the company up to this point. Shawn just lies there in puddle of his own blood as the crowd goes nuts in the background. What a fucking moment as JR exclaims, not once, but twice, 'MICHAELS MAY BE BROKEN IN HALF!!!!" He's right, as Taker climbs his way down from the top of the cell. Taker throws Shawn onto the other announce table as Shawn's feet are stuck in some cable cords. Taker then body-slams Shawn from the top of one of the announce tables onto the shards of the broken announce table, as you then hear a small "ECW" chant. Shawn is now an even bloodier mess as he's back in the ring:

Hebner and Slaughter are shown trying to re-lock the cell, now that Shawn and Taker are back inside. Taker, slowly, but surely stalks his way into the ring where Shawn is there waiting for him. Taker hits Shawn with a clothes-line as Shawn's body literally bounces off the canvas. Taker in full control now. Taker then choke-slams Shawn off the top turnbuckle! Man, what an absolute beating Shawn's body took in this match. JR, then correctly states, "THIS AIN'T NO CAGE MATCH!" It sure as fuck wasn't. Taker then grabs a chair from the outside, as Vince says, "Maybe we will see poetic justice here!." This made perfect sense as Shawn not only cost Taker the WWF Title at SummerSlam with a chair-shot to the head, but also hit Taker with multiple chair-shots in the build to this match. And Taker promptly collects his receipt with literally the stiffest chair-shot I've ever seen in my life as Shawn does NOT get his hand(s) up to block it, not even alittle bit, as he knew, he had to take this chair-shot for the sake of the storyline and match. And, did he ever:

Crowd is ecstatic! It appears Taker is going to get his revenge and get the win! But the lights suddenly go out...?

Some music hits, and then Paul Bearer makes his way down the ramp with a huge, masked man in red and black attire, and as we all know, Vince exclaims, "THAT'S GOT TO BE KANE! THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE!!!"

And...it was. The cell door is locked, but that's not a problem for KANE:

Kane and Taker are now face to face. Taker has a puzzled look on his face, like he can't believe what he's seeing. Crowd is stunned as Kane lifts his arms, and the ring-posts release fire:

Kane then tombstones Taker and leaves the ringside area, as the fans are pissed! Shawn, who was lying down on the mat through all of this, still has presence of mind to crawl over a few feet to Taker and draped an arm over Taker's body as Earl makes a slow 3 count.

Triple H and Chyna come ringside to peel HBK off the mat and help him to the back as he is this-close to being dead. He's a bloody mess and needs their help to the back:

Review: I've said it numerous times on this very website, but this is my favorite match in wrestling history. They mastered the pace and played in concert with the entire storyline/build. Shawn cost taker the Title 2 months earlier and since then, has terrorized Taker with multiple brain-crushing chair-shots and nonstop interference from Triple H, Chyna, and Rick Rude. The psychology of the cell was to keep it 1 on 1, Taker vs. Shawn, so no one could interfere. That being said, the pace was set early with Taker, slowly, but surely stalking his prey . He took his time, but delivered some bone-crunching offense in measured and methodical fashion; which is exactly what the start of the match called for to make sense with the storyline/build going into the match.

Shawn's part in this match was to play the cat and mouse game. To make the Undertaker chase him and hopefully for him, eventually slow down and tire out. While Shawn was playing the hide and seek game, he also got some good shots in on Taker that Shawn hoped would take their toll on Taker, along with the chasing of Shawn.

The artistry of Taker, being a much bigger babyface and pummeling Shawn half to death, but keeping his pops and at the same time Shawn, being the much smaller heel, taking an ass-beating, and NOT getting sympathy at any point in the match and retaining his heat is something that can't be emphasized enough of how it takes two world-class, experienced workers to pull off, especially in front of a PPV crowd that wasn't smarky. You can tell this is a match they put together mostly themselves and didn't have to work with too many 'agents' like today's generation in WWE has to.

The action picked up and slowed down at the perfect moments taking fans on the perfect roller-coaster type of ride. And even when they slowed it down (out of necessity, not laziness), the action was still near top notch and kept the attention of the fans the entire time. It could not have been easy to be the two hamsters having to experiment with a brand new stipulation match. These two laid down the foundation of the 'Hell in a Cell' match and did it perfectly in exactly ONE try. I don't think people get how difficult that is/was and had to be.

The fall off the side of the cell is a bump, that as a wrestling fan, has been burned into my brain since it took place 20 years ago. I know the Mankind bump is crazier and more impressive from a 'holy fucking shit' standpoint. I get that and accept it. But this was no slouch of a bump either, and laid the foundation down for the Mankind bump; and that's a fact.

Not only is this my favorite Shawn Michaels match of all time, and my favorite match of all time period. But IMO, this is the best match in WWF/E history. I know there are alot of other great all time matches in this company's history like Bret/Austin WM 13, and the HBK/Taker WM series down the road. But, to me, nothing tops this match. Perfect blend of action, bumps, and playing in concert with the build, which you rarely see anymore. Over the past 20 years, I have watched this match somewhere in the hundreds. Not sure how many exactly, but definitely over 100. If you have never seen this match before (you poor soul); do yourself a favor and watch this match as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Chris]

Definitely a borderline perfect match, and probably my favorite "first" of a match type off the top of my head too.

 

[King Kota]

 

[Steph]

Well. Time to block this thread. Kidding. But you won’t see me in here that’s for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DammitC]

That's no way of appreciating the GOAT that is Shawn Michaels