I never liked Shawn Michaels. Yep, I said it. He was harsh, cocky, and annoying in his prime. But you know what I hated most about him? Every time he got in the ring, he backed his big words up by finding a way to steal the show. His match was guaranteed to be good, and on most nights (read: when he wanted to), he had the power to determine whether or not his match would be the best on the show. That’s how good Shawn is.
When he made his return a few years ago from the supposed “career-ending” back injury, I started liking Shawn. The veteran mat-technician, who now seemed to have as his goal to always steal the show. He wasn’t as cocky or harsh. He was toned down. I don’t know if I buy into the “he was reborn” argument. I respect Shawn’s religious beliefs, I just don’t know how much of them we can attribute his changed character to. You see, Shawn made it his goal to steal the show when he came back. He was hungry to end his career on a much better note. He wanted to make more memories for his kids. He wanted to leave a bigger impact on the industry he couldn’t leave behind.
Think back of all the Shawn Michaels PPV matches you’ve seen since his return to the ring in 2002. How many bad ones can you think of? One? Two? What about his marquee matches, as in every main event he’s been on, and every match he’s been involved with that took place at a SummerSlam, Survivor Series, or WrestleMania. I like the WrestleMania Shawn. He buys into the “Mr. WrestleMania” gimmick more than Hogan buys into Hulkamania when he does his ridiculous interviews with his friend Bubba.
Last year at WrestleMania, Shawn had a unique role. His match was supposed to steal the show, and he wasn’t supposed to be the center of attention. I was a bit worried. The good thing here was that he was a part of Ric Flair’s retirement, and nobody could ever overshadow that. It makes sense that Ric and Shawn are the best of friends and respect each other so much. Really, aren’t they the same person in so many aspects of life? From the characters they play, to their cockiness and drive to the best (which is what made them two of the best ever), to the funny story Ric Flair tells of coming home after Nitro one night to find out his son’s new favorite wrestler is RAW’s Shawn Michaels. Shawn did his part at WrestleMania 24 and went his way. You see, the new HBK has been a company guy. He’s returned early from injury to help his brand out when all its stars went down with injuries. He’s been involved in edgy storylines for the last year (Chris Jericho, JBL) that he didn’t need to be a part of, and I can’t even remember and the thought of him as champion is almost non-existent.
There is no way HBK was going to WrestleMania 25 to be the company guy. There was only one thought in Shawn’s head, and you could see it a month ago. He was going to steal the show. He was going to be Mr. WrestleMania. He was going to have the most memorable match of the night, regardless what spot on the card he was in. He was given 31 minutes. He was given the third match down from top on the card. Most important of all, he was given the perfect opponent – The Undertaker.
These two guys can barely walk. Shawn’s knees are in such a bad shape, that retirement has been on his mind for a few months now, with every interviewer asking Shawn about the date of his final match. Undertaker didn’t go out WrestleMania weekend. He wasn’t at the Axxess tour, nor any of the other WWE venues. I’m not sure if he was at the Hall of Fame, in fact. What I do know is that he spent the entire weekend in his hotel room with ice packs attached to his legs. What I also hear is that he’s been doing this for a few years. Undertaker’s retirement has been pending for at least 5 years now. It gets postponed every year. He’s out of action due to a serious injury, or due to nagging pains, more and more every year. And with every year his match at WrestleMania gets better and better.
Nobody liked this card, heading into WrestleMania. But we all knew there was one match which was for sure going to be good and steal the show. That one match got the most time out of all, and rightfully so. It was the true main event — HBK vs. The Undertaker. A lot of people are arguing whether or not it’s the best WrestleMania match they’ve seen. I think it’s too early to say. I need another year to pass, and I need to see the match a couple of more times on DVD before I can make that call. It’s hard to forget Shawn’s ladder match with Razor Ramon. It’s hard to put this ahead of Austin and Bret, who defined an industry, and signified a new era in pro wrestling with their WrestleMania match. It’s even harder to put this ahead of Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, who were one shooting star away from a perfect match. It’s even harder to put this ahead of Michaels and Angle at WrestleMania 21 — a match I saw live in Los Angeles and was sure is the best match I’ve ever seen. (The “live” aspect helps, but also notice how one name keeps appearing in this list of “best ‘Mania matches.”)
‘Taker and Shawn left it all in the ring at WrestleMania. From Undertaker’s bump that went all kinds of wrong after his jump over the ropes, to the amazing sequence of finishers and kick-outs. To me, this wasn’t a five-star wrestling mat classic. However, it was definitely a five-star performance. HBK and Undertaker this past Sunday were two masters of ring psychology; two old veterans with beat up bodies who are not used to having a bad match, and two guys who knew they were going to have the best match of the night and nothing less. They did something that’s missing in today’s pro wrestling world. They used their bodies to tell you a story. From the beginning to the end, they made you more and more interested. They made you sit in front of the TV, glued in. Their facial expressions changed with every minute. Their timing was perfect. Their movements were carefully calculated and practiced, and the one or two times they went wrong, the veteran ability prevailed, disguising the errors as something planned. You didn’t want the match to end. You didn’t believe that Shawn kicked out of the tombstone, delivered to him after a chokeslam and last ride, both of which he kicked out from. There was no way in hell you thought Undertaker was going to get up from the second Sweet Chin Music which hit him right in the face, and it him so hard that it left a boot impression on his cheek as his head went flying. Everybody knew, going into this bout, that Undertaker was winning. A few minutes in, nobody was sure. And if you’ve gotten the audience to that point, then just like Ricky Steamboat pointed out at the Hall of Fame, “we got them.”
As far as Mark Calaway and Michael Hickenbottom are concerned, there’s no doubt — they got us.
Eddie T. has been a columnist for TBLWrestling.com since 2002. You may read his personal blog — filled with more content — by clicking here!
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