Between 1993 and 1997, it was almost inarguable that Shawn Michaels was the best wrestler in America. Okay, you could make arguments for Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Bret Hart or Vader, but Michaels got high marks for his workrate from nearly everyone who followed such things. After he came back in 2002 though, he still wowed crowds despite having lost some of his mobility. Here's a list of my favorite HBK matches from after his comeback, in no particular order.
1. with Triple H vs. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2009
The Degeneration X tag team has had its annoying moments since reforming countless times after HBK's return. However, there's no doubt that Michaels and his best friend Trips have great tag team chemistry as shown in several great matches with Miz and Morrison, JeriShow and here, against Legacy. Everyone knew DX was going over, but the journey to that point was shockingly well done with the rooks being given a lot of credibility in the process.
2. vs. Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XIX
Michaels and Jericho tore the house down in 2008 when had the best feud in wrestling for that calendar year. However, their original match was the event that proved not only did Jericho have better performances in him for the big stage than his stinker in 2000 against HWSNBN and Angle and the year before in an uninspired, deflated match against Triple H where the build included Y2J picking up dog shit, but it proved that yes, Michaels was still Mr. WrestleMania and still could rise to the occasion. Fantastic match. I remember it more fondly now that I've matured a bit and don't care about whether Jericho wins or loses at the PPV anymore.
3. vs. John Cena at WrestleMania XXIII
This was the match that really sold me on John Cena, but it didn't hurt that he was in there with Michaels. The finishing sequence was amazing, and it really put Cena over strong. Fantastic closer match and underrated in the context of history given his three WM matches that followed this one.
4. 2010 Royal Rumble
The Rumble match was awesome for a number of reasons - Edge's return, Punk's tirades between eliminations, Beth Phoenix eliminating Great Khali and then eating a GTS like a Champ. However, HBK provided the big drama in his quest to get that one last match with Undertaker. My jaw dropped when he gave Trips Sweet Chin Music at the time he did. His tirade after his elimination was even better.
5. vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV
I know I dogged this match as being overrated, but it was still good and still one of the two best matches on the card last year. Despite WM 25 being a down card, I thought this match was strong enough that it would have pushed THIS year's WM over the top from solid card to all-time great card. An instant classic and a top five WM match ever.
6. vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI
I had a few matches in mind for this spot. Obviously, the Flair match was drenched with emotion, but really, if the stakes weren't as high in that match and Michaels didn't say "I'm sorry, I love you" before the final SCM, would anyone have thought it to be as good as it was? There were any number of the HBK/Jericho matches in 2008 that could have made it. There were the aforementioned tag matches that I could have gone with, as well as the excellent Cena match from last January.
I went with the second Undertaker match because it had all the emotion of the Flair/HBK match but it was actually a great wrestling match out of that context as well. Yeah, I harped on the moonsault, but whether it was a botch or whether you're one of the ones swearing it was meant to be that way, it still didn't take anything away from the drama. The final sequence was amazing and a fitting end to HBK's career. He knew he was going down, but he still went down irreverent and brash, and it took a move that Taker hadn't done in more than a decade to keep him down (the leaping variant of the Tombstone).
Photo Credit: WWE.com
