The Second match in our monthly Fantasy Warfare series pits two of the greatest and most successful wrestling in the history of the business against each other. The Rock vs Shawn Michaels. Using only the truth which icon will come out on top? Will HBK hit Rock Bottom or will the last thing the Rock hears be Sweet Chin Music?
The Rock
Biggest Victory
Defeated Hulk Hogan – No Way Out 2003
Like every great icon in the wrestling business, The Rock has had many victories that all mean a lot. His victory over Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 19 marked the first time he’d every defeated Austin at Wrestlemania. Other may also argue that it could be classed as Rock’s biggest victory because the match also marked Stone Cold’s final ever match.
I though disagree. Hulk Hogan in the 1980’s was the biggest household name in wrestling. Bigger than John Cena today. Bigger than whoever will take Cena’s place in twenty years time. For years the argument raged that Hulk Hogan was the biggest star or greatest wrestler. One is true, the other is not. Wrestling fans have a real problem distinguishing a great entertainer from a great wrestler. Just because Hogan won tons of matches against supposed insurmountable odds, suddenly he was classed as a great wrestler. That’s not true.
I can list you a thousand better wrestlers than Hulk Hogan. The Rock being one of them. When their first match was announced at Wrestlemania 18 I feared for the Rock. If the Rock had have lost at Wrestlemania 18 then those Hogan fans would have the smuggest grin on their face. One which we wouldn’t have been able to get ride of. Because Hulk Hogan had just come back to the WWE at great cost the company, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he’d go over the Rock at Mania 18. If you watched the event then you’ll be able to attest that the electricity in the arena that night was sheer electric. Despite Hogan’s betrayal of WWE years previous, the fans were still solidly behind him. Even to the point where there were small smatterings of jeers for the Rock.
I will go down on record, saying that Rock’s victory at Wrestlemania 18 was bigger than his victory over Cena at Wrestlemania 28. Just for the sheer contempt I hold for Hulk Hogan alone. Just because the Rock defeated Hogan once, it didn’t mean that anyone in the arena looked at Hogan as a less of a man or wrestler. Some even thought that even though all match outcomes in wrestling are predetermined, the Rock’s victory over Hogan was a fluke.
Which is why it was important that the two had a rematch. Not straight away because that would have devalued their first encounter which was pretty awesome. Almost one year later, after he’d finished shooting his latest movie and after his loss to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2002 in a terrific effort by both men, the Rock came home to WWE to answer the calls of ‘Rematch’ from the WWE Universe.
No Way Out 2003 might just be the most hyped pay per view in WWE between 2000 and 2003. Even now I can only name maybe a handful of pay per views that might have come close in build up. Not only were the Rock and Hogan going to contest their rematch, Stone Cold Steve Austin was coming back almost a year after he’d walked out on the company, citing creative differences.
No Way Out delivered on every level in 2003, Triple H vs Scott Steiner aside. From the opening match to the Rock vs Hogan main event. The Austin comeback was greeted with the loudest reception I’ve heard in some years. When it came to the main event, the nerves of the previous year, even for the watching audience suddenly came rushing to the surface again.
The build up to the match was perfect. I can’t fault Rock, Hogan or WWE for their efforts building up the rematch. Considering it was taking place on a ‘B’ level pay per view made it all the more impressive. I won’t deny that I had a small smirk on my face when Rock pinned Hogan with ‘The Rock Bottom’ for a second time.
This isn’t just the Rock’s biggest victory because he beat Hogan at a time when Hulkamania had just found its feet again, but because the Rock was one of the only people in twenty years to ever stand up to Hogan.
Notoriously selfish in the ring and famous for hogging the spotlight away from those underneath him who needed it most, Hogan found himself hated backstage in both WWE and WCW in the mid 90’s. Numerous times had Hogan snatched the spotlight from younger guys just to keep himself relevant. This was enforced when Hogan admitted in his over exaggerated autobiography. Admitting to knowingly and willingly stealing the spotlight from the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6. When Warrior had defeated Hogan, it was Hogan who had the eyes pointed firmly at him with his gestures and the way he congratulated Warrior. Once again, Hogan did the very same thing three years later at Wrestlemania 9, when Bret Hart lost the WWE Championship to Yokozuna. Only for Hogan to march to the ring and defeat the monstrous Yokozuna in seconds thus undoing all the hard work Hart and Yoko had done in the match passing Yoko off as a monster.
That said moment is something which Hart has never forgiven Hogan for and never will. If WWE were going to do that then they could have found a younger wrestler. Instead, Hogan insisted it be him and McMahon didn’t want to the rock boat as there were some tricky contract negotiations going on between Hogan and WWE. It would turn out to be a wasted move however as later that year, Hulk Hogan would surface in WCW.
The Rock should be very proud of himself. All others who have stood up and said they weren’t going to lose to Hogan were shot down by both Hogan and Rock. Shawn Michaels was refused a victory against Hogan at SummerSlam 2005 with WWE citing that Hogan would put him over in their rematch a month later at Unforgiven 2005. Hogan reneged on the deal and refused to lose to Michaels on any pay per view because he thought he was so much better that one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Randy Orton was another victim of the Hogan ego a year later, when he was refused what would have been the biggest victory of his entire career at SummerSlam 2006 because Hogan wanted to show he could still beat the young guys. Senseless. I remember having arguments with people who said Orton should have looked at the lights for Hogan because he’s a legend. Wrong. Hogan should have done the honourable thing and advanced Orton’s career. Anyone who think it was right for Orton to lose to Hogan at SummerSlam 2006 doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Just because Hogan is a legend doesn’t mean to say he has to have special rights over all and sunder. It’s a reason why the Hogan vs Austin dream match will never happen. Because Austin had to the balls to refuse to lose to an egomaniac like Hogan.
And that is why defeating Hulk Hogan for a second time at No Way Out 2003 will be the Rock’s biggest victory in the ring. Because he did what others didn’t have the balls to do. Stood up to a man who thinks the world revolves around him. The Rock has never lost to Hulk Hogan and never will and that’s the biggest in ring victory you could ask for.
Victorious Moment
Walking Away From WWE For A Career in Hollywood
When one gets comfortable in their current situation, it’s so easy to sit back and ignore the challenges ahead. Instead of seeking out new problems to tax oneself, the most popular option is to dodge oncoming traffic and take the route marked ‘Easy’.
It’s never been a popular decision with the WWE Universe to walk away from the company. For some reason they see it as selling out. That a wrestler would rather walk away at the top of his game rather than fester until we’re sick of the sight of them. That’s the quality that, as well as being some of the greatest fans in the world, makes us one of the most hostile and selfish fan bases in the world.
The Rock was riding high in WWE when he landed the role of the Scorpion King in ‘The Mummy Returns’ and due to his unparalleled success the role was always going to lap over into its own movie. The sign posts were always there for the Rock. That he could make something of this acting career, maybe more so than he could in ring after 2002 was over. The success of the Scorpion King wasn’t a shock to anyone in WWE including the fans. We should have seen it coming. Instead we blinded ourselves to the fact that one of our own was making a new ground in a different business that wasn’t wrestling.
The truth is, when the Rock left WWE in 2002, losing the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam there was nothing else WWE could have done with ‘The People’s Champion’. Apart from Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania, the Rock had already defeated everyone who was anyone and challenges in the ring came few and far between. In fact when WWE booked the Rock vs Lesnar at SummerSlam 2002, it was the final idea WWE had for him.
It would have been selfish for us and WWE to expect Rock to stay in WWE and languish somewhere down the card when he was still in his prime. It made much more sense for him to go away for a few months and do something else with his talents so WWE could fill his spot on the card with new talent. It’s a practice that WWE should do in 2012 and 2013 with John Cena. The fact that the Rock walked away from WWE in 2002 meant that no one could class him as selfish. And if they did label him with that familiar tag, then there were a million reasons why they would have been wrong. The Rock could have stayed in WWE, of course he could, but it would have been at the expense of Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle. In the Rock’s absence, WWE managed to create several new stars. No one can say the Rock was selfish for allowing the spotlight to be cast on others.
When the Rock returned to WWE in February 2003 to face Hulk Hogan at No Way Out, your Wrestling God noticed a certain amount of hostility towards ‘The Great One’. Hostility that was unfair to direct at the Rock. You see, we can’t hate the Rock for pursuing other means of making money when you and I would have done the same. In fact, you and I have probably done worse. I would prefer to see the Rock used sporadically than have him wheeled out week after week with nothing meaningful to do.
Returning to WWE in 2003, the Rock, for some insane reason was seen as a sell out by the uneducated masses who thought for some reason because the Rock had gone to Hollywood, meant that he no longer deserved the respect of the WWE Universe. Utter crap. Every wrestler, no matter how bad or good, no matter if they sell out or turn their back on a business that gave them everything, to see what else is out there, deserves and should have our thanks and respect. Period!
The Rock’s future in WWE was sign posted after his touching victory over Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 19. After his feud with Goldberg was done at Backlash, the Rock would leave WWE for a prolonged period of time. None of us could have imagined that it would be for as long as it was, but hey, when something’s hot, it’s hot. Apart from a match a tag team match with Mick Foley at Wrestlemania 20, the Rock was done with wrestling and who could blame him? The man who had spent the best part of eight years giving us all he had, night in and night out decided that he wanted time for himself. The Rock decided that he could make more money from acting than he could from wrestling and the choice was simple. Continue beating your body up beyond repair night in and night out for a million dollars a year or get paid three million dollars a movie. Be honest. Which would you have chosen?
Not many people know that WWE fired the Rock in 2004. Citing various reasons. None which held any weight. After everything the Rock had given WWE the sons of bitches terminated his contact and didn’t even have the decency to tell him about it. So I don’t believe that you can blame the Rock for choosing Hollywood after that. The Rock is such a stand up guy that he kept it mostly quiet and saved WWE’s reputation by not shouting what they did to him from the rooftops. Instead he allowed people to believe that he turned his back on the fans and company that still meant so much to him.
The problem with the WWE Universe, is that they can’t bare to image that someone they loved could make it on their own outside of the ring. And when they do, instead of standing up, giving them a round of applause and saying “You know what? You gave us the best years of your life. You gave us unlimited entertainment. You sacrificed for us now we’re going to sacrifice for you. We’re going to open the door for you to walk out of. We’re going to wish you the very best in whatever you think is right for your life and we’re going to let you do something for yourself. And you go with our thanks, our love and our undeviating respect. Thank you!” Instead of doing that, the nastiness and bitterness comes rushing to the surface and certain people find it easier to spout the words “Sell out!” and “Back stabber!” for no reason at all.
When the Rock left WWE for a career in Hollywood, the WWE Universe were bitter. And it wasn’t because the Rock had turned his back on WWE because he hadn’t. If the Rock had turned his back on WWE then he’d have never come back in 2012 for his series with John Cena, not for all the money in the world. The Rock would have never made the occasional appearance in 2011 or done any promos or interviews in between his departure in 2003 and his in ring return at Survivor Series 2011. So if you’re one of those people who despise the Rock for leaving WWE, then stop it. Get over it! Dwayne Johnson gave us everything he had. Just be happy for him that he’s finally found something that makes him happy.
Of course the other thing everyone said when the Rock did return to WWE to face Cena in 2012 was that he did it for the money. That the Rock left WWE for the money and he came back chasing the dollar. Bullshit. The Rock is a multi millionaire. And as much as WWE don’t want to admit it, the Rock doesn’t need WWE. WWE need the Rock. Don’t forget, WWE went crawling to him, not the other way around. If the Rock had just come back for the money then he wouldn’t have put up with some of the shit that he had to on the Road to Wrestlemania 28, his appearances would have been few and far between and the actual match would have been half as short. The reason Rock came back was because of his love for wrestling the fans that made him. The Rock stuck around in the Mania build up because he knows the value of a good story and the match was as long as it was because the Rock likes to make sure he gives the fans their moneys worth. So if you’re one of the morons who thinks that the Rock’s return to WWE in 2011, 2012 and 2013 is purely money related then shut the hell up until you know what you’re talking about.
There is one last reason people jeer the Rock when he returns to WWE. It’s not because he’s made his millions and is successful man. In reality it’s not even because he left WWE in order to pursue the acting dream – even though that’s the mask the people put on their reason. The sole reason is that the Rock is doing something all those morons who boo him for being a traitor wish they could do, but never had the skill, talent or balls to accomplish. It really is that simple. It’s why critics and newspaper try to bring down immensely talented people for no reason and with no evidence. Because they all wish they could what their target is doing. Yet none of them were good enough.
WWE with the Rock between 2003 – present was and is a much duller place. It’s no secret that WWE struggled to replace the Rock even with those who they brought up the roster to build in his place. Even today, John Cena, C.M Punk, Ryback, none of them can truly replace the Rock even though Punk has come mighty close. In a time where walking away from the company to pursue other interests was frowned upon by the WWE Universe and ridicule was guaranteed, leaving the business that made him, knowing the reaction he’d get from some, in search of a better life will always be the Rock’s most victorious moment.
And if you think he had no right to better his own life after giving us so much, then you’re either an idiot or dead wrong. Just think about what the Rock has done for the business and what WWE did to him in 2004 – without reprisal from the man himself the next time you jeer the Rock for something you think he never had the right to do.
Greatest Match
Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin – Wrestlemania 17
The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania eventually became a storyline in itself. Austin defeated the Rock at Wrestlemania 15 for the WWE Championship. Austin defeated the Rock at Wrestlemania 17 for the WWE Championship. It only stood to reason that, after billing it as one of the only things left to accomplish in his illustrious career, The Rock would defeat Stone Cold Steve Austin, finally, at Wrestlemania 19. Though that’s not the match we’re looking at here, it so easily could have been for the result meant to the history of wrestling and for those who were there for the duration of their epic feud.
The invasion was coming. And even though in the baby steps of 2001 none of knew what the invasion was, it was plainly obvious that something had to change in WWE in order for said invasion to take place. That change would be the Rock. With an in demand schedule, the Rock had to leave WWE do he could film and it suited WWE right down to the ground. Even though the Rock would return to WWE later in 2001, Wrestlemania 17 and the episode of Raw the night after would be the last we saw of the Rock for quite a while.
I don’t like to say that the outcome of the match was obvious before the bell rang because for me, saying that away what both men accomplished that night. Stone Cold Steve Austin was clearly working with a higher power who was going to make sure that Austin walked out of the Reliant Astrodome as WWE Champion and seeing that the only higher power in public knowledge was Vince McMahon, the ending to the match write itself. When you think about it like that and combine it with the fact that Austin desperately wanted to leave his home state as WWE Champion. Then all we had to do was sit back and wait for hell to literally freeze over.
The history between the two men made sure that the hype was something that had to be seen to be believed. No one could have predicted the sheer brilliance that the pairing gave us on the night. What we got was a match which transcended belief. It really was a victory all in itself, considering Austin and the Rock were two men who while popular, didn’t have the biggest move set. Of course, it’s not what you have it’s what you do with it. A little tip for all the men there!
When you look back on Wrestlemania main events past, then we have a wide selection to choose from as stand out stars. Hulk Hogan vs the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6, whilst flawed was still an unforgettable match. Bret Hart vs Yokozuna at Wrestlemania 10 was a superb effort from a man of Yoko’s size and weight. Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 12 was another top grade effort as was Randy Savage vs Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 5. For my money though, The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin will always be one of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history.
The action spilled outside the ring, in the ring, they battered each other with weapons and countless finishing manoeuvres until it looked like the Rock couldn’t kick out of another Stone Cold Stunner. How wrong could we be? A feat of excellence from the Rock kept this match hot and somewhat unpredictable until Vince McMahon strutted his way to ringside. I don’t get excited about matches a lot, you may have noticed. But when a match comes along that really is beyond what I class as exceptional, then I have to go a little crazy.
The ending was written when Vince handed the chair to Austin and with every move from then on it became glaringly obvious that Austin had sold his soul to the devil himself. Though the Rock still refused to give in. Even after Austin had stunnered and beaten the WWE Champion to hell. The Rock, at Wrestlemania, on the grandest stage of them all, refused to relinquish his Championship in front of ‘The People’.
I defy anyone to watch that match back, and when Austin batters the Rock with the violent and sickening chair shots at the conclusion of the match and the Rock still kicks out, not feel just the slightest bit of pride in what our business was back then. Because this encounter really triple ‘A’ plus story telling. If WWE booked anything half as good as this in 2013 then they may just make a star. It took several more unrelenting and sickening chair shots to an injured Rock before Austin took the WWE Championship and even though the Rock was on his way out of the door for the first time, he had made an extreme sacrifice and left the company in a better place for it.
Stone Cold Steve Austin left that match looking better than when he entered, yes I know, you never thought that would be possible seeing as Austin was already a WWE God by 2001 and the audience loved him no matter what he did. That’s what the Rock did for Austin and WWE in 2001. The Rock put on such a show that it appeared only the very elite would have beaten him that Wrestlemania night. And only the elite could. I can’t say that the Rock made Stone Cold that night because Austin was a star long before this match. What I can say though, is that the Rock made Austin a stronger Champion than he already was as Austin, the new WWE Champion and Vince McMahon left Wrestlemania 17. To make the very best look even better, is a feat in itself.
For his efforts and one of the most emotional, draining and thrilling matches I have ever witnessed, this will rightly go down as the Rock’s greatest match in WWE. Nothing will ever come close to touching it. The Rock made you believe that even if he’d have been hit by a train, he still wouldn’t have relinquished the WWE Championship on WWE’s biggest night of the year. It took countless Stone Cold Stunners and an insurmountable amount of chair shots to dethrone one of WWE’s greatest champions in 2001.
It shouldn’t take just one finishing move on itself to defeat a Champion. It should take something truly momentous. The Rock set the bar for what a Champion should always be.
Will be Remembered For
Being The People’s Champion
A cliché? Maybe. But it’s what the Rock was to everyone. When there was no one else to stand up there was always the Rock and that’s what made Dwayne Johnson a shining star in WWE. Considering the reaction to Rocky Mavia in 1996, WWE and the Rock should be credited massively for the turn around. Dwayne Jonson could have been just another name on WWE’s cutting room floor in 1997 when the fans decided that the all smiling Mavia was an annoyance. It was a genius move to turn him for a few years and then switch him back when WWE had no heroes.
When Stone Cold Steve Austin was forced to take his absence from WWE in 199 due to his neck injuries, WWE found itself short of heroes. Mankind was grating by that time and it wasn’t until Cactus Jack was reborn that Foley hit his real stride in WWE. Triple H was a heel and on the cusp of the biggest run of his life. Undertaker was gone from WWE in what both parties cite as un-agreeable terms. Big Show was WWE Champion at Survivor Series 1999 but that couldn’t last forever because it was a bloody awful reign. The Rock was the only choice WWE had. It may have been luck that they had no one else or it might have been the willingness from the WWE Universe to love someone new, either way, the Rock became the true People’s Champion in 1999.
I truly believe that without Johnson at helm of WWE, then the company may have slipped backwards and allowed the declining WCW back into the fight of the Monday Night Wars. WCW was all but rotten at the end of 1999 but hey, when there’s nothing for people to stick around for they look elsewhere. Or in this case, they would have looked to where they knew the quality was before. The Rock was the answer. Like I said before, when there was no one else to call upon, the fans could call on the Rock.
Dwayne Johnson is a blessed man, there’s no denying that. He has been granted with some of the biggest matches and victories in WWE history. To this point in WWE, the Rock has defeated every big name which has ever crossed his path, with the exception of Goldberg. Then again, in reality, Goldberg was never in the Rock’s league. He may have looked something but Bill Goldberg’s wrestling ability is far inferior to Dwayne Johnson’s. Hulk Hogan, John Cena, the Undertaker, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind. How many wrestlers can look back at their career and say “I’ve beaten them all?”
Of course the Rock and Shawn Michaels never crossed paths which is why this Fantasy Warfare exists. And there’s every chance that C.M Punk’s name will be added to that list at some point in 2013. The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, whatever you prefer to call him has, in my mind at least, never let his audience down. Superb wrestler, movie star, at this point I doubt that there’s nothing the son of high Chief Peter Mavia couldn’t do. It is my belief that sometime in the next two years the Rock will retire from wrestling and it will be then he takes his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame.
For now though, the boy born Dwayne Johnson. The teenager that grew up in the business. The young man that had no money when he was playing American Football and spent years of his life sleeping on urine stained mattresses and at one point on the streets will always be remembered for being the Champion of the People. He worked for it. He fought for it. He earned it every day of his wrestling life.
The Rock has sacrificed more than we could ever know to get to where he has gotten today. And if you don’t like him then I’m sure even you can respect him for that. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – The People’s Champion. That sounds about right to me.
Shawn Michaels
Biggest Victory
Defeated Bret Hart – Wrestlemania 12
It was billed as ‘The boyhood dream that came true’. Yes, WWE knew how to spin a gripping story back in 1996. Shawn Michaels, the man that has been picked to replace Bret Hart as WWE’s figure head and poster boy was about the reach the pinnacle of a dream that most in the industry thought would never come true.
As part of the Rockers with Marty Jannetty, Shawn Michaels was pushed back into the shadows. Undeniably the standout of the duo, Michaels was limited in a very good tag team to what he could do. It was the old story of one will make it and the other won’t. It clear from the beginning that Shawn Michaels was the one who would make it. Decorated with the WWE Intercontinental Championship, a cracking match at Wrestlemania 10 with Razor Ramon that will stand the test of time and a gripping feud with Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels had done everything he could in WWE, except capture the big one.
In 1996, the steroid scandal was still fresh in WWE’s ranks and Vince had seen the wiser decision to put the gold on several smaller men who didn’t look like they’d just taken a steroid cocktail. Bret Hart and Ric Flair were the first of several smaller wrestlers to hold the WWE Championship after guys like the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan had faded out and next in line was Shawn Michaels. It was a wise decision by WWE to add Shawn Michaels’ mentor to the story as Jose Lothario added that sense of realism and nostalgia that the feud needed.
It was also a great idea by WWE to book the match under a one hour Iron Man Match, even though most of the critics at the time refused to believe that two men in 1996 could hold the attention of an audience for a whole hour. Whilst the match was an ordinary encounter it will always rank up there with one of the greatest spectacles WWE has ever put on. For the sheer determination and spectacle of the thing. Whilst the match was peppered with chin locks and rest holds, Hart and Michaels told a story that only the two could do together. Who was to know that a year and a half later both men would be embroiled in the greatest wrestling scandal of all time?
Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 12 was the first hint that the WWE audience were growing tired with being fed the old face vs heel routine and wanted to express their own mind and feelings to the company. It was also one of the first instances of real ‘Cena syndrome’. Where the audience was split down the middle and both men were favourites with different people. Shawn Michaels had captured the hearts and minds of the children and women who wanted to see the Heartbreak Kid achieve his boyhood dream and the die hard wrestling fans wanted to see Hart shatter Michaels’ dream. It was the equivalent to John Cena vs Randy Orton today.
Looking back on it now, the result was always inevitable. It’s funny how you look at something years later and see how blatant things are. As a child you don’t realise that WWE wouldn’t go to all that effort hyping the dream match and Shawn Michaels’ boyhood dream without producing the final result. It would all be a pointless waste of money. But when you’re just concentrated on your favourite wrestler coming out on top nothing else goes trough your mind.
The Iron Man Match had one of the best beginning I think I’ve seen and if you haven’t seen it then you need to pick up a copy now. The timeless scene of Shawn Michaels descending from the rafters on a zip wire will always be one of those moments we who were in the arena at the time and watching at home, will always be able to say “I was there!” For wrestling fans this was bigger than the moon landing. Something we rarely get today.
In truth the match lasted longer than an hour after the announcements, the explanation of the rules, Gorilla Monsoon explaining to both men the rules and after the hour was up and neither man had been able to get a fall over the other, it went to extra time. I will concede that at times the match dragged almost to a halt. The headlocks and chin locks were an unnecessary distraction at times but a needed ones at others and the ending to match seemed just a little too quick. WWE should have figured out a better way for Michaels to defeat Hart. For those who are puzzled what I’m talking about, after the match had gone one whole hour and was ordered to continue under sudden death rules, Hart re-entered the ring and within thirty seconds Shawn Michaels hit him with Sweet Chin Music and took the Championship.
It was sudden. WWE expected us to believe that after Hart and Michaels had fought to a sixty minute draw with no falls at all, that Michaels could defeat Hart in thirty seconds with one finishing manoeuvre. Watching it again it was a hokey finish, one which should have been booked in the last ten seconds of normal time. To some it almost seemed, if you didn’t know that everything was predetermined – and some kids didn’t, that Shawn Michaels was being given extra time to do something he couldn’t do in normal time. Had WWE booked Michaels to pin Hart with the clock counting down from ten seconds then it would have given the whole match a much more dramatic feel and stood Michaels in good stead as the challenger that never gave up and could defeat the Champion without the extra time assist.
Nerveless, this match will always be Shawn Michaels biggest victory for several reasons. The first being Michaels managed to do what most in his position couldn’t. Hung with the greatest wrestler WWE ever had. That in itself was an achievement. Michaels didn’t look inferior or weak. He looked like a man who could be the next WWE Champion.
The second reason is that Wrestlemania 12 was the beginning of a legend. His Intercontinental Championship reign, ladder match against Razor Ramon, two consecutive Royal Rumble victories all set up Michaels for this moment, on this night. He may have become unpopular in the following months, but on that night, in that moment, Shawn Michaels was the man who would carry a company into a new generation. Some would argue that his victory set the wheels in motion not just for the attitude era of WWE, but the more selfish Shawn Michaels and they would be right. More than that, more than the boyhood dream, at Wrestlemania 12, Shawn Michaels finally became a man.
Victorious Moment
Beating the Drug Demon
Anyone in wrestling can point to the steroid scandal in WWE in the 90’s as a pivotal time of change for the company. It saw the transition of big guy to normal guy on top and gave hope to those who weren’t jacked like a truck that they could make something of themselves. The steroid scandal was the beginning of guys like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Without it, it’s hard to imagine Vince choosing someone like Hart or Michaels, over someone as built as Ultimate Warrior or Hulk Hogan as WWE Champion.
The only problem was, that behind the scenes, Shawn Michaels was more drugged up than all of them put together. Crafty he may have been, not to show the effects of what he was taking in the ring, have no doubt that Shawn Michaels in the 90’s was as guilty of taking substances as those found guilty in court. If you don’t believe me and there’s no reason you shouldn’t get yourself a copy of either or both Shawn Michaels’ autobiography ‘Heartbreak and Triumph’ or the bio DVD of the same name. Both are worth the money and both open your eyes to Wrestling’s greatest performer.
On the DVD it’s Shawn Michaels does something enlightening. Something that you rarely see in any WWE bio DVD. Shawn Michaels admits to taking all kind of drugs to make him get through each match. No joke. Pills to get him through the day, pills to help him sleep, pills to help him wrestle, pills to get him through the match, pills to keep him awake, you name it Shawn Michaels took it. Pills that killed wrestlers around him, yet HBK still downed them like sweets. You might not think that this is the making of a legend but you’d be wrong.
In 2002 after the news broke that Michaels was no better thank a junkie in his heyday and HBK returned to WWE for one last run, most questioned if Shawn, who had been clean of drugs for at least a year that we know of by that time, would be as good in the ring as he had been in the mid 90’s when he was wrestling under the influence. For some reason, people believed that it was the drugs that made him a great wrestler and not the skills he’d learned along his long and winding road. Madness.
Those morons were left red faced when Shawn Michaels strutted out for his stunning SummerSlam 2002 match with Triple H. Not only had Shawn Michaels been clean of drugs for a good while, but in his first match back in WWE for four years – after career ending back surgery – it didn’t look like Shawn had missed a beat. And he hadn’t. The drugs hadn’t made Shawn a better wrestler, in fact it was quite the opposite. They’d made him a worse one. Not by a great mile, but the difference between a Shawn Michaels match in 1996 and a Shawn Michaels match 2002 – 2010 was night and day.
Shawn Michaels’ final run in WWE must always be looked upon as a triumph in a career that had many ups and downs. If not inside the ring, then certainly outside. Shawn Michaels had gone from a wrestler who took every pill put in front of him, to a washed up junkie who lied on his couch dribbling barely able to open his eyes, to a legend that did what most fail to do. Kick the habit.
In his illustrious career, Shawn Michaels has had many victorious moments. Too many to count. But beating the drug demon has to be the single greatest victorious moment in the life of ‘The Showstopper’. If he hadn’t then we might never have seen such matches as Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24. Or Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25 and 26. And worst of all, right now, we may not even have Shawn Michaels in the world at all.
Greatest Match
Vs The Undertaker – Wrestlemania 25
It took a while to sift through ‘Mr. Wrestlemania’s’ catalogue of matches to find the very best. Some would say that for emotional value alone Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24 should be the outright winner. Fair point. Michaels fought a willing Flair in a spectacle that shall never be repeated in Flair’s career. It was certainly Ric Flair’s greatest match in maybe fifteen years.
Then you have those that would nominate Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 12 as the best of the bunch. Again, it would be a decent nomination but let down by the action in the ring that night. To settle the argument, I don’t think we can just mention one of Shawn Michaels greatest matches. So here is a rundown of what I believe to be Shawn Michaels’ top ten matches. You can pick your own favourite.
10) Shawn Michaels vs Shelton Benjamin (Raw, 2005)
9) Shawn Michaels vs The 123 Kid (Raw 1994)
8) Shawn Michaels vs Triple H (Bad Blood 2004)
7) Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart (Wrestlemania 12)
6) The Rockers vs The Hart Foundation (SNME 1990)
5) Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart (In Your House 2)
4) Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (Wrestlemania 10)
3) Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker (Wrestlemania 26)
2) Shawn Michaels vs Triple H (SummerSlam 2002)
1) Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker (Wrestlemania 25)
You will have noticed that there is a huge selection missing, including Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker at In Your House: Bad Blood which was the first ever Hell in a Cell Match in WWE history and of course Shawn Michaels vs Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 14. For me personally though the above are Shawn Michaels finest ever matches and all for different reasons. It’s number one though that I consider his greatest ever match.
Michaels and the Undertaker had gone through a period of transition together in WWE. They’d grown together, they’d made the company better together and finally, it had to come to this at some point. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels had a history outside the ring also. Most notably, Undertaker threatening Michaels backstage when Michaels was going through his immature, druggie phase. The two had rekindled their friendship in 2002 when Michaels made his triumphant return to WWE and the stage was set.
The Undertaker had been through a string of crap Wrestlemania opponents in the past until Wrestlemania 17 WWE hadn’t really given him anything to get his teeth into. After Triple H in 2001, WWE constantly had to up its game to make Undertaker’s matches memorable. It didn’t always get it right, matches like Undertaker vs Mark Henry were dire. On the whole though, by the time WWE rolled into Wrestlemania 25, Undertaker had some damn fine encounters on the grandest stage of them all. There really was only one person left that could have believably ended The Undertaker’s winning streak at Wrestlemania. Triple H in 2011 and 2012 was never believably going to accomplish the goal because he’d lost to Undertaker so many times before, including a previous Wrestlemania match which was also great.
Shawn Michaels though could sensibly step into the spotlight and claim he had what it took. You see, if a wrestler stands up and says “I can end the streak!” but has lost to Undertaker several times before then there’s no reason they’d be able to do it on the grand stage. Shawn Michaels though had already beaten Undertaker several times in the past. Including a draw against Undertaker at In Your House: Ground Zero and major victories at In Your House: Bad Blood and Royal Rumble 1998. In fact to my recollection, the Undertaker had never beaten Shawn Michaels until their match at Wrestlemania 25.
There was a believability to HBK’s claim. And at Wrestlemania 25, the pair went to the ring determined to make the world believe history was about to be made. The match as I’m sure you’ve seen is sheer brilliance. By far the very best Michaels has ever had. The two legends told a story that was both exciting, emotional and in its own way, tragic. When a rematch was announced as Shawn Michaels retirement match – not that WWE would ever tell us that, but we knew – the bar was already set as high as it could go. Their Wrestlemania 26 rematch was also spectacular and one of the most emotional moments in WWE history. So much so some idiot on the internet even thought that the match would end in a draw. Really? A draw in the main event of Wrestlemania? WWE may do some stupid things but they would never do that. They know what the consequences would be. Unfortunately the match comes close to their Wrestlemania 25 scrap but it doesn’t top it.
It’s rare in wrestling that you see a match then feel the need to see it again and again. And even rarer that you want to watch it again months or even years after it took place. Shawn Michaels vs the Undertaker was one of those rare moments where two legends of the ring came together and the magic was there. The near falls, the timing, the selling, the story is why this match will always tower head and shoulders above the rest, as the greatest match in one of the greatest careers in wrestling history.
Will be Remember For
Being the Man That Outshone All Who Opposed Him
Indefinite would be the word used if you were to pose the question, “What can I do to ensure I am remembered?” There is no definite answer that will give you immortality long after you’ve passed from this life. As stated in the previous fantasy warfare matchup, all we can do is hope for the best. It doesn’t hurt though to carve yourself out a career that will go someway to helping people remember you. It’s something rarely anyone does these days. Instead people resign themselves to the opinion that they can’t do anything to change the future, so why bother. Those people stuck in offices or jobless at the moment, of whom you may be one, who knew they could do something with their lives but never bothered to try for fear of failure are those who will always wander in the end, if they could have made it.
Shawn Michaels could have been one of these people. Fired from WWE in the latter 1980’s only to be rehired, it was clear from day one what Shawn Michaels was always going to be remembered for. Had HBK never been hand picked to replace Bret Hart as WWE Champion and carry the company forward then the outcome I’m sure would have been the same. From the very beginning there was always a spark to Michaels. Even when he was playing second fiddle to Jannetty, Michaels was always the one that stood out.
There was still a lot to do when WWE broke up the Rockers. It would have been so easy for Shawn Michaels to sit back on what had gotten him to the big stage and leave it there. Instead the man who later be known as ‘The Showstopper’ elevated his performance and forced the world to sit up and take notice.
It didn’t matter whether Shawn Michaels was performing on Raw, a pay per view or a house show where he was under no obligation to put on the best show of the night – the only people who would have seen would have been those in attendance – Shawn Michaels outshone every wrestler on the card and elevated any and every wrestler who stood opposite him in the ring. This was no more evident at Wrestlemania 23 and a U.K Raw that came from the U.K when, on both night, Shawn Michaels took John Cena and made him a star. Their feat of endurance on the U.K Raw special in which they went damn near one hour is still a thing of beauty to watch today.
That was always Shawn Michaels. The man who could take a cardboard box and make it look sensational. No matter how big or awful the opponent was, when they stepped into the ring with Michaels, for those few minutes, they were someone. It’s an art that very few men have grasped today and an art that desperately needs to be re-introduced into wrestling. Because in a time when Wrestling is at its lowest boom in recent memory and stars are few are far between, what this industry really needs now, is another Shawn Michaels.
A fitting legacy then for the man who was justly nicknamed ‘The Showstopper’. There are a good many other things Shawn Michaels will be remembered for in wrestling and quite rightly so. But for the man born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, being remembered as the man that outshone everyone around him, is the perhaps the biggest achievement of his storied, decorated and celebrated career.
The Match
It would have been yet another Wrestlemania Main Event that would have brought the millions flocking to WWE. There’s nothing to say that it can’t still happen. Should Shawn Michaels come out of retirement and the Rock stave off the retirement bug for long enough, then you never know, especially in WWE. The chances of that happening though are slim to none. Shawn Michaels has no reason to break his vow to us and to wrestling itself. No in ring comeback could ever live up to his tear jerking exit.
The Rock would have reason to challenge HBK to a match, seeing as the last time they were both in the ring together, competitively, Michaels cost him the WWE Championship. On two occasions. Once in 1999 by hitting the Rock with Sweet Chin Music on Smackdown when serving as Special Guest Referee between The Rock and Triple H and again at Judgement Day 2000 in the Rock and Triple H’s epic one hour Iron Man Match. When the Undertaker returned to WWE, fighting off Degeneration X to help the Rock and striking Triple H causing Shawn Michaels to call the decision as a disqualification right on the final buzzer.
There is reason and life in a potential Rock vs Shawn Michaels match. I for one though would never want to see it happen. It’s one of those things that you never want to see in case it’s not as good as you built it up to be. And one of those things best left alone.
There is no doubt that the Rock vs Shawn Michaels would be one of the greatest and most anticipated matches in WWE history. The match itself would live up to the promise thanks to both men’s wrestling skills, Shawn Michaels’ selling abilities and the Rock’s never say die attitude. If the Rock was to perform in this match like he did At Wrestlemania 17 then we would witness something very special indeed.
Due to the Rock’s record against the best this business has ever thrown up, I would have to plump for a ‘Brahma Bull’ victory in a very hard fought and exciting match. After numerous Sweet Chin Music’s, Flying Elbows and near falls, it would take several People’s Elbows and Rock Bottoms for ‘The People’s Champion’ to get the job done. No matter the result both men, wrestling and the audience would be the winner.
Winner: The Rock
Onwards and upwards...
