I met John C several years ago at HBK Heaven. He's one of the biggest HBK fans I know, and has written the absolute best HBK bio and reviews I've ever had the pleasure to read. He's allowed me to post them here to share with you guys. Thanks so much John, you ROCK!
You can read more of John's fantastic work by visiting his site, The Oratory

The following column was written originally in the summer of ’99 and later edited in 2000. I did go over it now although I didn’t take out many things. If there are references to “last matches” it’s because when I wrote this column I had no idea that he’d be wrestling at Summerslam 2002. Here it is in its entirety.

In this column I will go over the matches that made former three time WWF Champion Shawn Michaels famous and in my opinion, kept the WWF afloat. I truly believe that had it not been for Michaels the WWF would have lost a lot more money in ’95 & ’96 when they had their financial woes. He literally saved the company with his performances by having top-notch matches with EVERYBODY for a few years.

Sorry AWA fans, I have not seen any of his work from there so this is strictly WWF stuff. Please note that I do NOT trade, copy, sell or buy tapes online so please do not ask me for them.

Before I get started I want to state the ground rules that I want you remember before you yell at me because I forgot about a match. The only matches I considered were ones that I still have on tape. If I can’t see a match, I cannot rate it. In each description I will list the name of the competitors (winners listed first), the event it took place, the date of that event and after the description will be a rating out of five stars. The highest possible rating is ***** while the lowest match on this list is ***1/2. For the matches that received the same ratings I found a way to put them in the order that I feel is correct. When I describe the match I will also talk about the feud, the description of the match and any other info you need to know about it.

Without further adieu, please sit back and enjoy this trip down memory lane as I take a closer look at the magnificent career of my favourite wrestler ever, The Icon, The Showstopper, The Main Event, Shawn Michaels. Here she blows…

20. Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels @ WrestleMania XIV - 03/29/98
This match just beat out Michaels/Jannetty from Royal Rumble ’93 and Michaels/Undertaker casket match from Royal Rumble ’98, which took place two months before this one. You know the story here. Austin was pushed for this match about a year before this match and Shawn ended up hurting his back severely two months before. Had both guys been 100% healthy I’m pretty sure that this match would be among the top five matches on this list. It should also be noted that this show drew a huge buyrate because everybody knew that Austin, the best babyface since the Hogan era, would win the belt here. Plus, Michaels was the top heel and there was the enforcer/rapist/ear biter/lunatic Mike Tyson at ringside. Watching this match is pretty sad because you can see the pain on Shawn’s face throughout. He was told by his doctor’s not to wrestle because of the back injury but he felt he should because it was the right thing to do.

Before the match, Austin gets one of the loudest entrance pops ever. They brawl around ringside because at this point neither guy was healthy enough to do the kickass bumps that made them famous. The match is slow paced as Shawn works over the knee for a while instead of using the usual pescados, dropkicks, planchas and moonsaults that we had come to know and love. After a ref bump Shawn controls the action setting Austin up for the superkick but Austin ducks and hits the stunner as Tyson comes in, bites Shawn’s ear and counts the pinfall. Okay so he didn’t bite his ear but the rest is true. Afterwards, Tyson punches Shawn to a big pop as HBK leaves the WWF ring for the last time as an active wrestler. Shawn passed the ball to Austin and faded into retirement where his legacy will never die because he did the right thing in his last WWF match to date.
Rating: ***1/2

19. Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels @ WrestleMania XI - 04/02/95 At the time of this match I got really excited because it was the first time Shawn really got to headline a PPV. Technically, this wasn’t the main event thanks to the Bigelow/Taylor match that was also on the card. Even though it was not the last match, it was for the world title, which would have made it the main event under normal circumstances. Outside of Shawn’s performance, the best thing about this card is that Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy are at ringside in low cut dresses. For those wondering, Pamela is Canadian but I believe her breast implants were born in the good old USA so America can rejoice about that.

The match goes back and forth as Shawn bumps his ass all over the ring for his buddy, the seven-foot guy who has no clue. At one point they fight outside, the ref bumps, Shawn gets Diesel back in and hits the superkick. Hebner rolls in the ring, I get ready to celebrate and of course it’s only a two. I’m not the only one that booed the decision as the crowd did too. There is a little bit of psychology here as Shawn works on his back until Diesel decides to bore us to death with his “offense.” He finishes it with a big boot and a powerbomb as the crowd pops mildly for one of the worst champions the WWF has ever had both financially and literally. The next night on Raw, Shawn gets his ass kicked by Sid and begins his first run as a babyface singles wrestler. Sadly, this led to a Diesel/Sid feud over the world title that was as bad as it sounds. Shawn should have won the belt here but instead he had to wait a year. More on that match later.
Rating: ***1/2

18. Sid vs. Shawn Michaels @ Survivor Series - 11/17/96
This was during Shawn’s first run as world champion in a match that took place at Madison Square Garden. This match is often overlooked because of the five star affair featuring Bret Hart and Steve Austin earlier in the evening. It was built up well as Sid was threatening to attack Shawn’s mentor/manager Jose Lothario who was at ringside during this one. It’s probably the best one on one match Sid has ever had as the crowd pops for just about everything here even though Sid was supposed to be the heel. Shawn takes everything Sid has here and keeps coming until Sid remembers he is supposed to be a heel. He steals a camera and hits Jose Lothario with it. When he turns around, Shawn hits the superkick seemingly for the win but instead of the pin he checks on Jose outside. After a ref bump Sid hits Shawn with a camera, follows that up with a powerbomb and miraculously the ref awake, which allowed Sid to get the pinfall and the title.

After the match Shawn doesn’t care that he lost the belt showing compassion towards his fallen mentor. This was the WWF’s way to show that Shawn was more sympathetic than ever before. Like I said, it was Sid’s best one on one match ever and just another good one in the career of the Heartbreak Kid. He won the world title back from Sid at Royal Rumble ’97 in San Antonio, Texas although that match was not good enough to make this list. Shawn had the flu during that match so his performance wasn’t up to his usual awesome standards. This is the first match in this list of the many great world title matches that Shawn had in ’96. For HBK, ’96 was a year that will be remembered as one of the best ever for a world champion in any company.
Rating: ***3/4

17. Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker @ Ground Zero - 09/07/97 The first ever PPV match between HBK and ‘Taker. This happened at a time when DX was just being formed, as Shawn was slowly morphing back into heel mode after a long babyface run. Basically, Taker was pissed at Shawn for costing him the WWF title at Summerslam where Taker lost to Bret thanks to Shawn, who was the ref at the time, “accidentally” hit Taker with a chair. He WAS going for Bret, it just so happened that Bret moved out of the way and it struck the innocent babyface instead. Just like that Shawn was a heel again.

This was just a wild brawl that saw Shawn execute very few moves during the entire 20+ minute match. Basically Shawn was the pinball on the receiving end of an ass kicking from the Undertaker, who was at his best during this feud with Shawn. When I say it was a wild brawl I mean that in the nicest way because both wrestlers intentionally tried to beat up the officials. Shawn and ‘Taker end up assaulting four (I think it was four) referees before the match is finally thrown out by the refs. At the end of it all, with most of the wrestlers out to separate the two, ‘Taker does a huge no hands plancha (leap over the top rope) onto about eight guys that was damn impressive. Hey American Badass, do you remember when you could do that? It was a great feud that was only going to get better as the rematch was set to happen inside of a cage that nobody had seen before. Rating: ***3/4

16. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart @ Survivor Series - 11/09/97
This is THAT match. The screwjob of a lifetime. The one that every wrestling fan will never forget. The one that would rank at the very top if it was a list of the most memorable matches of Michaels’ career. The one that marked the end of Bret Hart’s fifteen year career in the WWF. The one that led to the birth of Mr. McMahon. The one that people still talk about even though it’s an incident that took place nearly five years ago. Before the screwjob though, there was a match and it was a great one. As expected, Bret was the huge babyface in Montreal, Shawn was over big time as a heel thanks in particular to the way he humped the Canadian flag as he entered the ring. Of course, there were some fans that knew Bret had signed with WCW so you could hear some “you sold out” chants too.

Just like the brawl he had with ‘Taker at Ground Zero, Shawn took a hell of a beating here but so did Bret. It was not like their other encounters because there were no submission holds, there was not a whole lot of mat wrestling and there was definitely a lot of tension around ringside. Shawn took some nasty bumps including a vicious suplex on the concrete and the figure four around the ring post, which is a move that I absolutely love. In the end, Bret’s in the process of finishing it when Shawn throws Hebner in his way causing a ref bump continuing the trend that every match on this list has a ref bump. Shawn slaps on the Sharpshooter, Bret reaches back to reverse it but just as that is happening Vince McMahon yells at the timekeeper to “ring the fucking bell.” Shawn wins his third world title as he looks at Vince in shock. Vince orders him to the back, Bret spits on Vince and the rest is history. People forget about the actual match but it was there and it was very good.
Rating: ***3/4

15. Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog @ One Night Only - 09/20/97 One of my favourite matches ever that took place in Birmingham, England as the WWF experimented the U.K. only PPV for the first time. Needless to say, it worked thanks to a fantastic card that was capped off by this match as the main event. Unlike most of the matches on this list, there was not much of a storyline here because it was a U.K. based show and not one that would advance storylines. Most people thought the British Bulldog would retain the European title here in front of his home crowd because Shawn had another run with the world title in his future. Even though that is what most people thought, it is not what happened. Shawn walked in here as a huge heel while Bulldog got a big pop in front of his home crowd. This was just before Degeneration X was announced although Triple H and Rick Rude interfered heavily throughout this match. We knew they were a stable, we just needed a name for them.

The match was nothing unusual as Shawn played the role of the heel masterfully while the crowd marked out for everything. The end comes after Triple H hits a Pedigree on the floor followed by a Michaels figure four that lasts for about six minutes. The ref awards the title to Shawn after Bulldog cannot continue as the crowd throws things at Michaels & company. A solid match with an amazing amount of heel heat that you have to see to appreciate. Interesting side note: It is believed that the European belt was given to Shawn because Vince McMahon wanted to punish Bret for refusing to do the job at Survivor Series '97. Since The Bulldog is Bret's brother-in-law, McMahon felt that by punishing Bret's family member it would lead to Bret changing his stance on the Montreal finish. Bret did not change his stance so this decision only added fuel to an already hot fire.
Rating: ****

14. Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart @ In Your House 6 - 02/18/96
This was the blowoff match stemming from an edition of Raw following Survivor Series ’95. If you recall, Shawn was beaten up outside of a Syracuse nightclub in September ’95 where he suffered a concussion. The WWF decided to use this real life happening as an angle (what a surprise) that would help get Shawn over even more as a babyface. So on Raw in November when he was wrestling Owen he took an enziguri (a strong kick to the back of the head) that caused him to be “unconscious.” He would sit out for two more months until he won Royal Rumble ’96 giving him the world title shot at WrestleMania 12. Owen took exception claiming Shawn would have to beat him in order to get the shot at his brother Bret. While the outcome of this match was obvious beforehand, they still managed to put on a great contest with excellent psychology, heat and pacing that you get used to seeing after watching these two in the ring together.

The psychology here is tremendous as Owen hits an enziguri, the crowd gasps and Shawn oversells it outside the ring like only he knows how. Considering this was the move that “put him out” it allowed Owen to get overconfident so when Shawn kicked out at two the announcers had good reason to say Owen was too cocky. After nearly twenty minutes of action, Owen goes for another enziguri, misses and Shawn ends up nailing the superkick for the win. Great finish with a hot crowd. Nice little match even though the outcome was obvious beforehand.
Rating: ****

13. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels @ Survivor Series - 11/25/92
I can honestly sit here and tell you that I don’t remember a whole lot about the happenings before this match. From the info I have gathered from readers I think the best reason they had this match as a main event was so that they could move forward without the balding llama known as Hulk Hogan. Sadly, the immortal llama re-surfaced in ’93 to make WrestleMania IX one of the worst PPVs the WWF has ever had. This was a good little match featuring world champion Bret Hart going up against the Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. Remember the days when the IC Champ was the #1 contender? Well, this was one of those times where the rule actually applied.

The match is worked well by both guys but Shawn was not really polished at this point in his career. Also, because there was no real feud here (at least any that sticks out) the match lacked the usual heat that a Michaels/Hart match possesses. It’s a match that people usually forget about because of the lack of hype surrounding this one as compared to their WrestleMania XII and Survivor Series ’97 matches. I think something that should be noticed when critiquing this match is that Shawn did use the superkick, it’s just that it was not his finisher at the time. Instead, he used a belly to back finisher that was so sad it makes The Worm look as deadly as the Stone Cold Stunner. Just as Shawn was set to finish Bret with the vaunted belly to back suplex, Bret escapes and forces Shawn to submit to the Sharpshooter in what was a great but unspectacular match. Shawn had a good showing in his first of many PPV main events.
Rating: ****

12. Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog @ King of the Ring - 06/23/96
This was a feud over Shawn’s newly won world title that took place after Diesel’s farewell match and after a HBK/Bulldog match at the May ’96 PPV. The storyline here was that the Bulldog, led by Jim Cornette, wanted to get back at Shawn because they claimed Shawn was stalking his wife or something like that. This was of course a lie but they are heels so the best way to get them back is by having the babyface (Shawn) beat them up. Smells like a Cornette booked angle to me. This whole feud followed the memorable one with Bret and was before the major one with Vader so that is why this match (and the match they had the month before) is usually forgotten.

The outside referee is Mr. Perfect, the inside referee is Earl Hebner and Owen Hart was announcing at ringside throughout the night. I must say Owen was a fabulous announcer too. The match has good pacing and psychology as Shawn works over the Bulldog’s arm to minimize his power advantage. See, they had been playing up his strength as a way to make him seem like a more legitimate title contender even though deep down we all knew that he was not the one to take the belt away from HBK. Near the end of the match, as Bulldog is in control, Shawn comes back to the crowd’s delight when Hebner gets bumped which seems to be a pretty popular pattern in almost all of Shawn’s matches. Anyway, Perfect gets up on the apron, Shawn hits a superkick and Owen pulls Perfect out of the ring as Hebner comes back to count the pinfall. To this day I still don’t know why that whole thing with Perfect & Owen happened. Outside of putting the two on camera, it seemed pointless to me. Oh well, it was yet another good match for the champ.
Rating: ****

11. Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin @ King of the Ring - 06/08/97 At the time of this match Shawn and Steve were the tag team champions. Even though they were the champions, they were not allies so they decided to have a one on one match to determine who was the better man of the team. This was before Austin’s neck injury so heading into this match the buzz around my house was that this was one of those special matches. It turns out that the match was great, it’s just that the finish of it prevented it from being anything greater.

The best moment of the match has to be when Austin does the Thesz Press but Shawn uses Austin’s momentum to reverse it in one of the sweetest reversals ever. You’ll never see somebody do that reversal again. They do some great brawling on the outside that features several crazy bumps from Michaels involving the guardrail and a press slam on the floor. Those of you who think Austin never was a good technical wrestler need to check out this one along with his match with Bret Hart at Survivor Series ’96 and you’ll see just how great he was before injuries slowed him down. After about twenty minutes Austin gets control as he hits a Stunner although nobody is there to count because of a ref bump. Austin has the victory locked up but there is no ref so Austin revives him and stuns him to a good pop. Shawn gets up, Austin comes close and down he goes after some sweet chin music. A ref runs in and Shawn superkicks him to another good pop. Then, another ref comes in to stop the match before he gets his ass kicked.

Although the decision pissed me off at the time, you have to realize that at this point both guys were 100% healthy so there was obviously big money in a title match between the two. Sadly, they never had a PPV match against each other except for the WM14 match that saw a crippled Michaels lose to an injured Austin. It did make money but it wasn’t as good as the WWF, or myself, had hoped. Make no mistake about it though, this was still a great, often overlooked, athletic contest between two of the greatest wrestlers ever.
Rating: ****1/4

10. Shawn Michaels vs. Vader @ Summerslam - 08/18/96
I remember this match as if it happened yesterday. Everything seemed in place for this to be one of the best matches ever as the best big man in the business was taking on the best wrestler alive. This was the feud that the WWF was banking on to help them make a charge at WCW, who had just started the highly successful NWO angle. When Vader came into the WWF in late ’95 he made quite an impact as a monster heel that did not care for authority. Shawn, on the other hand, was the babyface champion who feared no man but was pushed to his limits by Vader a month earlier. At the July ’96 PPV, International Incident, Vader pinned Shawn in the six man main event match that made everybody think Vader would win here too. The psychology and heat here is wonderful as Shawn does his best to hit and run because the feeling was that once “The Mastodon” (that’s Vader’s nickname) got his hands on HBK he’d rip him to shreds.

After a few minutes, Vader gains control as he destroys Shawn with a powerbomb on the mat covered floor and then he drops him on the guardrail to get the countout win. Vader’s manager Jim Cornette comes out to say they didn’t come here for a countout and the match is restarted. Vader in control until Shawn reverses a powerbomb, gets set to hit the superkick when Cornette throws in the vaunted tennis racket. Shawn uses it on Vader for the Vader DQ win as a dozen officials come down to ringside. Cornette complains again, so the match starts up once again. Shawn gets control, hits the patented top rope elbow and then a superkick. Vader kicks out at two although he never really kicked out, the ref just stopped on the third one. Vader’s fault I think. After a ref bump, Vader gets control again, hits the powerbomb and Shawn somehow kicks out at two as another ref slides in. Shawn is out so Vader drags him to the corner, sets him for the Vaderbomb but Cornette tells him to go for the top rope moonsault, which he misses to the shock of nobody. As Vader slowly climbs to his feet, Shawn climbs the ropes and hits his own moonsault, this one while Vader is standing, for the pinfall. It would have been better had it not been for the countout and DQ false finishes. The rest of the stuff is wonderful though as both guys ended up looking strong by kicking out (or forgetting to in Vader’s case) of their opponent’s finisher.
Rating: ****1/4

9. Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin vs. British Bulldog & Owen Hart @ Raw - 05/25/97
I do not have many editions of Raw on tape from when Shawn was still active but I kept this one. The reason I still have this one is because it is one of the best matches in the history of Raw. Just by looking at the names of the competitors you can probably tell why it was so special. On the heel side you had Bulldog and Owen, who had carved their niche as not only great workers but great characters as well. They were a part of the hated Hart Foundation so when two of the WWF’s top faces wrestled them for the tag belts on this fateful May evening the crowd heat was amazing. Austin’s popularity was growing by the day and Shawn was having a solid run as a babyface. Had this match taken place at a PPV I guarantee you it would be talked about A LOT more. I think it is overlooked because it was only a twelve-minute match that took place at a time when the WWF was trailing WCW on Monday nights.

A big brawl ensues from the start with Austin brawling and Shawn using a variety of holds to wear them down. Shawn plays face in peril here as the heels taunt Austin causing him to foolishly rush in which allows the heels to work over HBK. As expected, Shawn manages to tag Austin, who comes in to a huge pop, and he absolutely cleans house. After a nice little beating Austin sets up Bulldog for the Stunner but Owen hits a low blow, the ref tells Owen to get out of the ring and Shawn sneaks in behind Bulldog to hit the superkick for the Austin pin and the titles. After the match, the Hart Foundation attacks Shawn as Austin runs up to Bret Hart at the top of the ramp and kicks his ass. This led to the Shawn vs. Austin match at King of the Ring that you read about earlier. Just a wonderfully booked match featuring four of the best workers that the WWF has ever seen. Great heat, great psychology and great work by everybody involved.
Rating: ****1/2

8. The Rockers vs. The Orient Express @ Royal Rumble - 01/19/91
This is the only Rockers match in this list and it is one of my favourite tag matches ever. If there was a feud here I do not remember it. I’m guessing there was not much of a feud because this was the opening match on a Royal Rumble show that was mediocre at best. The Orient Express, or I guess I should say the “New” Orient Express, were comprised of Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond who wrestled under a mask as Kato because there is nothing Orient about the guy. The Rockers are of course comprised of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty who had spent a few years together by this point. To say they were “on” for this match is a total understatement. To me, this was their coming out party much like The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian had at No Mercy ’99.

The action here is reminiscent of a luchadore match that is filled with non-stop action, very few rest holds and a pretty hot crowd because this was the opening match on the card. Lots of highflying stuff here including moonsaults, pescados, topes, head scissors and a wide variety of tag team moves that were truly ahead of its time. By today’s standards the stuff they did would be considered just good. However, you have to remember that this match took place in ’91 so it was not a common occurrence to see this aerial stuff. For a few minutes in the middle of the match Shawn gets his ass kicked showing us all the bumps we had come to know and love like the flip over turnbuckle sending him crashing to the outside mats. Shawn manages to escape the beating long enough to tag in Marty, who actually looks sober during this match. He does the “hit everything that moves” routine that takes place in every tag match. In the end, all four guys are in there as The Express take advantage as Kato whips Jannetty into a Tanaka chop. They go for it again but this time Shawn sneaks in, gives Tanaka a gut shot and Jannetty instinctively does a sunset flip to give The Rockers the win. Shawn’s role in this match is not that big but you could see the signs of greatness here as he sold everything magnificently. It’s a terrific finish to a very hot opening match. They didn’t need tables, ladders and chairs to have a great match; they did it with superlative wrestling ability. It’s too bad they never got the chance to have a PPV showdown with the Hart Foundation or The Steiner Brothers because that could have been something really special.
Rating: ****1/2

7. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart @ WrestleMania XII - 03/31/96
To a lot of people, this is Shawn’s greatest match ever because this is the match that saw him capture the WWF World title for the first time. In my opinion, this is not his best match ever; it is merely the most memorable match of his career. Yes folks, there is a difference between greatest and memorable.

Both guys came into the match as faces although you could tell just by watching this match that Bret played the role of the heel throughout. Had this match been booked better I think there’s a very good chance that it could top this list. However, due to the fact that there was only one pinfall in nearly 62 minutes of action I can’t put it higher on this list. The match itself was special for about 40 minutes; it’s just that the other 20 minutes were spent in rest holds that would have been effective had they ended up being falls. Do something where Shawn goes to bodyslam Bret but his knee gives way and he falls flat on his back with Bret on top for the surprising three count. If Shawn works over a knee for 10 minutes and slaps on a figure four forcing Bret to give up then Shawn would have had one fall. A few minutes later you could have Bret slap on the Sharpshooter and Shawn could give up so that it would give each guy at least one fall. Instead of that, Bret spent his time working the neck while Shawn worked over Bret’s arm. To this day I still don’t know why those were the body parts of choice. Despite the poor booking the action was phenomenal as both guys whipped out all the moves in their arsenal. Many people thought Shawn couldn’t stay close with Bret because of Bret’s technical expertise but I feel Shawn was able to hold his own although his submission holds could have been better.

The first thirty minutes is kind of slow until Shawn goes for the superkick, Bret slides away so Shawn leaps over the top onto Bret outside the ring in a wonderful spot. After some near pinfalls Shawn takes an insane backdrop over the top rope that could easily blow a knee out but this is Shawn “God” Michaels so somehow he escapes unscathed. The next few minutes see Bret working over the back while solidifying his heel role by going after Jose Lothario, Shawn’s mentor, a bit. The final ten minutes of this match are awesome as Michaels begins to mount the offense because we are supposed to believe that a draw would allow Bret to retain the world title. In the span of about two minutes Shawn unleashes a flurry of offense that includes a dropkick, a double axehandle, a top rope elbow and a moonsault among other things. Just as Shawn is set to come down on Bret again the Hitman puts him into the Sharpshooter as time expires which leads us to believe that the match is a draw. President Gorilla Monsoon comes down, orders the match to continue to the dismay of Bret and Shawn quickly hits the Sweet Chin Music but is too banged up from the Sharpshooter to make a cover. Great selling by Michaels there. Shawn gets up again, Bret hobbles to his feet and Shawn drills him with the superkick again as the ref counts the three for Shawn’s first world title. Bret left for 7 months while Shawn went on to have a fabulous year as the world champion. As I said earlier, I fully understand why people love this match because I am one of those people. It’s the one you may remember more than any other one but it is not the best of his career. It’s probably the biggest markout moment for an HBK fan like me but there are better matches, six of them in fact.
Rating: ****1/2

6. Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett @ In Your House 2 - 07/23/95
This was Shawn’s first big match since he turned face for the first time as a singles wrestler following his WrestleMania XI loss to Diesel. He was powerbombed by Sid the next night so he sat out a few months to sell the move and rest some nagging injuries. In June he came back and wrestled Kama to a draw at KOTR ’95 in what I would consider one of Vince’s worst booking decisions ever. They realized their mistake by having Shawn go after the IC title that was held by J-E-Double F (haha) Ja-Double R (haha)-E-Double T (haha). This was the PPV where Jarrett made his singing debut even though deaf people could tell it really was Roadie (Road Dogg) doing the singing. Shawn was over as a huge babyface here probably because Diesel, Mabel and Sid were wrestling in the main events and the crowd knew how much they sucked. It’s too bad it took McMahon a year to realize that. The match itself rocks thanks to an ultra hot crowd that pops for everything Michaels does and boos Jarrett mercifully. People say Jarrett never really got over as a big time heel in the WWF but I recommend you check this match out because he is absolutely HATED here.

The action here is non-stop as Shawn pulls out everything in his arsenal and Jarrett is able to keep up well. As usual, Shawn bumps his ass off taking an insane backdrop over the top along with the usual corner flips and major overselling. After 19 minutes of action Jarrett tells Roadie to pull Shawn’s leg when he throws him into the ropes. However, as Jarrett tosses Shawn he gets reversed and Roadie (who has his back turned) instead pulls Jarrett’s leg. Jarrett stumbles, Shawn sets up and nails him with the Sweet Chin Music for his third Intercontinental Championship. Had this match taken place at a bigger event like a WrestleMania or a Summerslam I’m sure people would talk about it as much as Shawn’s other matches. However, because it took place on the July ‘95 PPV it is a forgotten match even though it was phenomenal for twenty minutes. Jarrett quit the WWF following this one to go to WCW where he would experience what it’s like to be held down by Hogan and friends. As I’m sure you all know, he did come back a few years later. Shawn dropped the IC title in October ’95 by forfeit because of the real life beating he suffered at a Syracuse nightclub.
Rating: ****3/4

5. Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel @ In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies - 04/28/96
This was a no holds barred match for the World Title that Shawn won from Bret Hart a month earlier at WrestleMania XII. It was Diesel’s (Kevin Nash) last, and by far his best, match in the WWF before moving on to WCW along with Scott Hall to kickstart the NWO angle in the summer of ’96. Diesel was acting like a heel prior to the feud and the WWF started mentioning the fact that he and Shawn were good friends in real life. Thus the title of the PPV, “Good Friends, Better Enemies.” As much as I dislike Kevin Nash I have to give him credit for doing a good job in terms of establishing his heel character in his last month as part of the WWF. Of course, I’m glad he left because once he did it allowed talented people like Steve Austin and Mick Foley to come in and ultimately lead the WWF to the top of the wrestling mountain. I could preach about this for days but I do want to get to this match. Before the match, Diesel said “he’s got something for Vince” which probably meant confusion to some fans because Vince was only an announcer at the time.

Diesel is billed as a monster that doesn’t care about anyone so Shawn does his best to move around early hitting a dropkick and moonsault right off the bat. Outside the ring, Diesel gets in control and as they climb into the ring he takes off the tape on his wrist and chokes out Earl Hebner thus enforcing the “I don’t care” attitude that he had at this time. He ties Shawn in the ropes and hits him a couple of times with a chair until Shawn wriggles free and takes the chair himself. He beats on Shawn a little more as Vince the announcer tells Shawn to stay down, which manages to make Diesel look like a bigger monster. Diesel takes Shawn outside and powerbombs him through Vince & Lawler’s announce table in what was one of the first times that something like that happened in the WWF. Of course, Shawn sold it as if he were dead. Shawn gets back thanks to help from a fire extinguisher and lays two chair shots that Diesel no sells leading to one of his four moves, a boot to the face. Failed powerbomb attempt gives Shawn the advantage as he sets up for Sweet Chin Music only to have it reversed by Diesel who blocks it and then hits a clothesline. They go outside again where Shawn is dropped on the guardrail. Diesel takes a look at Mad Dog Vachon at ringside and rips off his wooden leg to major heel heat. Just as he goes to strike Shawn with it, Michaels hits him with a low blow out of desperation. Shawn drills him with the leg, hits the Sweet Chin Music for the victory as Diesel rides his truck into WCW. Simply put, this is the best carry job I have ever seen as Shawn sells everything wonderfully. This match really put him over as a credible champion who can take a licking and keep on ticking. It was a wonderful brawl that set the tone for years to come, as the WWF would have many more brawling main events in the years following. Shawn sets another trend, what else is new?
Rating: ****3/4

4. Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind @ In Your House: Mind Games - 09/22/96
The two craziest bumpers in our generation in a one on one matchup for the world title. What more could a wrestling fan want? The sad thing about it is there was not much of a build for this match as Shawn was coming off a feud with Vader while Mankind was coming off a big win against the Undertaker. While the feud and storyline were mediocre the match itself turned out to be one of the most brutal world title matches that this business has ever seen. Mankind enters in a casket as that remains at ringside to be used as one of the places where these two maniacs (I meant that in a good way) will bump their assess off.

The first two or three minutes of this match are insane as they head outside after about 30 seconds when Mankind lifts up the protective mats exposing the concrete. Shawn dropkicks him on the floor and follows that up with a wonderful looking tope. Shortly thereafter, he whips Mankind back first onto the floor as the back of Foley’s head hits the concrete in a disgusting bump. Things slow down a little bit until Shawn gets in control for the next insane bump which was a suplex on the ring steps that sees Mankind’s knees take some tremendous punishment. Shawn works on the knee for a few minutes until Foley turns the tide by reversing a hurracanrana into a stun gun. A pretty cool spot follows afterwards as Mick gets his head stuck in the ropes and manages to put on the mandible claw. Shawn seizes control of a chair and drills Mankind’s fingers so he can take away the mandible claw from Mankind. Back in the ring, Shawn takes the vicious backdrop to the floor bump that he does in seemingly every one of his matches. Mankind gets a half dozen near falls before finally showing signs of frustration. Shawn is perched up on the top looking for some move until Mankind gets up, crotches him on the top and back suplexes him through the Spanish announce table although it looks like Foley took a worse bump than Michaels did. The Philly crowd is absolutely berserk here probably because they’ve seen many table spots in the past (ECW! ECW!) although not many could be more violent than this one. This was one of the most brutal bumps you will ever see probably because it was two guys at once instead of the usual one guy doing all the work. Foley’s on the top rope with chair in hand when Shawn dropkicks him down. He covers him but out of nowhere Vader comes in for the Shawn DQ victory after 27 minutes of action. Out of disgust, I throw my ham sandwich at the TV even though I’ve seen this match about fifty times. Mankind and Vader try putting Shawn into the casket when ‘Taker comes out of the casket to get rid of the heels. Shawn would lose the title one-month later to Sid even though Mankind or Vader would have been much better choices. The screwjob finish still pisses me off and so does the fact that these two never had a PPV match against eachother again. Regardless of all that, it is still a terrific match that is all the more special when you consider that this was the first time these two wrestled.

In his #1 selling autobiography, Mick Foley had great things to say about this match. Among other things, he said: “We put twenty-seven minutes into what was undoubtedly the finest match of my career. There is no doubt in my mind that it was the best match of the year, and one of the greatest in history.” He later went on to say, “It was truly a special night, and try as I might, I don’t think I’ve ever been that good again.” I agree with everything Foley had to say about this match because it was his best ever and it was better than anything else in ’96 even though the Ironman match gets most of the attention. If somebody asks you why Michaels and Foley retired before age 35 just show them a tape of this match because it’s a perfect example of why both guys had to leave this business before they were ready. They were insane bumpers. Not only that, they were also smart wrestlers who knew how to build a great match. This was the best world title match that Shawn ever had and it deserves to be recognized as such because it was fantastic from start to finish.
Rating: *****

3. Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels @ WrestleMania X - 03/20/94
The first ladder match in WWF PPV history took place at the biggest show in the business (WrestleMania) in the world’s most famous arena (Madison Square Garden). When all was said and done, Shawn Michaels gave one of the best performances that this business has ever seen. This was the match that showed everybody just how special Shawn was. This was the match that propelled Shawn to the main event as he took a huge step from being a good worker to being one of the best that has ever lived. As great as Shawn was though, I have to give credit to Razor Ramon (now known as Scott Hall) for putting on a tremendous match proving that he could be a great worker when motivated. The story here was that Shawn got stripped of the IC title in ’93 due to a contract dispute (which was actually true). By the time he re-signed with the WWF in late ’93 the IC title was on Razor Ramon even though Shawn never lost the other IC belt. WWF officials decided that the best way to settle this dispute was to have a ladder match with both belts hanging from the rafters. The winner would be the first one to climb the eight-foot ladder and grab both belts in order to become the real Intercontinental Champion.

They grapple in the ring to start for a few minutes until Ramon is thrown outside where Diesel, Shawn’s “bodyguard” at the time, clotheslines Razor on the mat. He is then told to go to the back by referee Earl Hebner to the delight of the crowd. Razor whips Shawn into the corner, Shawn does the usual cross corner flop and gets clotheslined outside the ring. Razor exposes some concrete but it does not come into play until Shawn throws him back inside. He reverses a Razor’s Edge into a back shoulder toss that sends Razor to the floor onto the exposed concrete where he lands on his left knee and arm in a sweet bump. Shawn goes to get the ladder before Razor stops him. Razor goes to set up the ladder until Shawn hits a baseball slide dropkick that sees the ladder nail Razor squarely in the ribs. Man, that’s such a sweet move. The next few moments are filled with ladder shots on Razor’s stomach and back as that is the body part of choice for Shawn to work on. As Razor is down, Shawn climbs up, Razor reaches up and exposes his bare ass to the delight of women everywhere and probably Pat Patterson too. Shawn kicks him off and drops an elbow off of the ladder in another cool spot. Razor takes advantage using the ladder as a weapon leading to a wonderful spot that sees him slingshot Shawn into the ladder that was positioned outside the ring. After throwing the ladder onto Ramon repeatedly Shawn delivered the superkick and a piledriver that kept Ramon down for a while. He carried the ladder over to the turnbuckle on the left side where he mounted the eight-foot ladder and came off of it for a huge splash that would make my other favourite wrestler, Jimmy Snuka, very proud. He climbed up again and used his own body to squash Ramon in the ribs with the help of the ladder. Shawn set up the ladder again. As he started to climb, Ramon got to his feet, came off the ropes and hit the ladder hard causing Shawn to get his leg caught in between the ropes. With Shawn incapacitated for the time being Ramon climbed up, grabbed both titles and got the victory after nearly 20 minutes of heart stopping action.

Shawn did not win the match but when all was said and done he proved to the entire wrestling world that he did have what it takes to be the best in the business. Just a kickass match that deserves all the praise it has ever received. Shawn sets another trend by having a superb match with a gimmick. To prove it wasn’t a fluke, he decided to do it all again 18 months later.
Rating: *****

2. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon @ Summerslam - 08/27/95 After seeing their WM10 ladder match I had no idea what to expect for the second ladder match between Shawn and Razor. How could they top a match that had so much heat, psychology and pacing with absolutely no flaws? One way they could do it was by having more time for the action. Another way they could do it was by having a second ladder present just in case the first ladder takes too much of a beating. Of course, it’s easier for me to say this stuff after I’ve seen the match a dozen times. There was not much of a feud heading into this one as both guys were babyfaces at the time. Shawn was over huge thanks to his IC title win over Jeff Jarrett at the previous PPV (match #6 on this list). This was the sequel to one of the greatest matches ever so you had to know that they would do everything in their power to make it special.

As is the case in most of Shawn’s matches, things start out quickly as both guys escape the other’s finisher. After some brawling on the outside Shawn takes one of the most brutal bumps you will ever see. It’s a move that sees Razor suplex Shawn over the top rope in a move where HBK lands viciously on the ground without his knees to break the fall. It’s a move you rarely see because few people are willing to take it. Razor takes the advantage putting the ladder in the same spot where Shawn did the baseball slide into his ribs at WM10. This time though, Shawn misses it. This is Razor’s way of making you believe that he has learned from his previous mistakes. Shawn gets the advantage, starts to climb the ladder when Razor pulls him down. Somehow, Shawn gets his knee stuck in the ladder. Razor, assuming the heel role, decides to work over the knee like a sadist. I’ve never seen Scott Hall so focused although that’s probably because I’ve never been in a bar with him before. Oh come on, you didn’t think I could go without making that joke did you? I could not resist that one. Anyway, Shawn’s knee is so crippled that he can barely stand which is great strategy (known as psychology to you and I) because if he can’t stand how is he supposed to climb the ladder? As Razor climbs up, Shawn suplexes him off the ladder and then throws him into the ladder a number of times. Shawn goes up the ladder a bit, hits a moonsault. He goes for the Snuka splash like he did at WM10 but Razor moves showing that once again he “scouted” his opponent well. Razor brings in a spare ladder from under the ring. As Shawn starts to climb, Razor hits the Razor’s Edge (should be renamed the Jack Daniels Edge) off the ladder in another cool spot. They both set up their respective ladders and start to climb up when Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music to send Razor off the ladder. Shawn falls off his ladder though in yet another bad fall that looked unplanned. Razor sets him up for another Jack Daniels Edge when Michaels backdrops him over the top rope in a bump reminiscent to the one Razor took at WM10 on the exposed concrete. Shawn goes up again, misses on his first grab until he finally grabs the belt to retain his Intercontinental title.

The reason this ladder match is better than its predecessor is because it went five minutes longer, it had a great story with Razor working over Shawn’s knee, they worked in new spots and they were able to perform on the same level as their previous match. Even though this match is the better one, the WM10 match receives far more press because it took place at WrestleMania. I think one of the reasons why people like the WM10 match more is because Shawn failed to grab the belt on his first try in this one. That’s a very valid point but I don’t see why one small gaffe should mean that this match was worse than their earlier one. The most important thing to know about this is that both guys gave it there all in a 25-minute match that had no points where the crowd lost interest or where the action stopped. It was a magnificent match that will never be matched as far as one-on-one ladder matches go. Once again, a fantastic job by both guys in following up their magical effort eighteen months earlier at WrestleMania X.
Rating: *****

There was a time when I considered the Summerslam ladder match to be Shawn’s best match ever. After much deliberation I had to give that honor to another match that was also the first of it's kind. You’ve probably seen it. You’ve probably read my column all about. Yes folks, I’m talking about…

1. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker @ In Your House: Badd Blood - 10/05/97
The first ever Hell in a Cell match is the greatest match in the career of Shawn Michaels. It came at a time in his career where he had a lot of doubters. Even though the WWF was making significant strides in ’97 it was a tough year for Shawn. Among other things, he dealt with a knee injury, a broken smile (ha!), a backstage fight with Bret Hart and pressure from up and coming WWF superstars, namely Steve Austin and Mick Foley, that wanted his spot. They wanted to be the showstopper. They wanted to be the icon. They wanted to be the main event. They had to wait though because Shawn still had the goods and he proved that on this October evening in St. Louis (Go Rams!). This match was the follow up to their match at Ground Zero (match #17 on this list) that ended in a DQ. The WWF’s hierarchy felt that the best way to settle this feud would be to stick these two in a steel cage that would surround the ring. This would be to the Undertaker’s advantage because he was the big, overpowering babyface while Shawn feared for his life due to the fact that his DX allies would not be able to help him out at ringside. The heat for this match was absolutely phenomenal, as was the feud, which was the deciding factor in why I decided to place this match at the top of the list.

To start out, Shawn runs around the ring because he’s literally scared of ‘Taker, who manages to slow him down with a big boot to the face. As is the case for most of the match, ‘Taker dominates early sending Shawn outside the ring via back body drop over the top that forces Shawn to land back first on the mats with his feet up against the cage. ‘Taker uses power moves like clotheslines and ramming Shawn’s back into the cage that leads to the “physical dissention” of Michaels. When Shawn tries to mount a comeback ‘Taker manages to drill Shawn with a flurry of clotheslines and punches that the crowd absolutely loves. These clotheslines and tosses into the cage look really stiff but this is the best match of Shawn’s career so what do you expect? When ‘Taker throws Shawn back in, HBK seizes the opportunity by pushing ‘Taker off of the apron sending him into the cage in what can be considered a good bump for ‘Taker. Shawn climbs up the cage and drops an elbow in one of my favourite spots of this match. Shawn realizes he needs to get sadistic so he picks up the steel steps and drills ‘Taker in the back rather viciously. He piledrives ‘Taker on the ring steps followed up by a double axe off the top to the floor ala Randy Savage. Sadistic Shawn brings in a steel chair that he uses on ‘Taker twice only to have the dead man kick out after two. Shawn’s frustrated now. ‘Taker gets to his feet, whips Shawn into the ropes and gives him a back body drop over the top rope that sends HBK onto a cameraman at ringside. After laying a beating on the cameraman Shawn hits UT with the usual flying forearm, top rope elbow and a superkick that should have finished off ‘Taker. However, it only serves as a wakeup call that causes the Undertaker to snap forcing Shawn to run out of the door that was opened so that EMT’s could come help the camera guy who was really some local indy wrestler. Fabulous booking here. ‘Taker gets control outside, slingshots Shawn into the cage that sees Shawn do one of the best blade jobs ever. How come he never did blade jobs before? Hmmm, I wonder. Seriously, of all the matches Shawn had I can only think of a handful where he actually bled.

Shawn realizes that the only way to get away from the Undertaker is to go on top of the cage so he climbs up with ‘Taker in hot pursuit. While there, ‘Taker manhandles Shawn again until Shawn reaches the other side of the cage when everybody watching at home realizes that the only way to go from there is down. He drops down to the side of the cage with his fingers on the top so ‘Taker kicks them as Shawn falls eight feet below onto, you guessed it, the Spanish announce table in what is one of the greatest bumps this business has ever seen. ‘Taker brings him back inside where he gives him a massive chokeslam off of the top rope. Shawn is motionless so ‘Taker decides to grab a chair. He swings so hard that it would have made Mark McGwire proud. He absolutely drills Michaels to a huge pop thanks in part to the storyline from Raw where Shawn used a chair to beat the crap out of ‘Taker. Fantastic booking. Once again, psychology finds its way into an HBK match. Just as ‘Taker’s ready to finish Shawn off the organ plays and out comes Kane for his long awaited debut. He comes in, hits a tombstone on ‘Taker and Michaels rolls over for the pinfall and the tainted victory.

I never thought he could top the bumping performance he did against Diesel in their April ’96 match but this was an absolutely brutal match. The Undertaker deserves a lot of credit too as he played the role of a monster real well. When he did sell a move he did a good job of it compared to some of his previous efforts. There are people who frown on this match because of the finish but I think the finish worked well since it was a part of the storyline. It set up a Kane/Taker feud that was actually pretty good thanks in large part to the memorable debut Kane made here. The reason I think this match is Shawn’s best ever is that he was able to show his whole arsenal for the entire 20+ minutes. It was arguably his best feud ever, he was cutting his greatest promos around this time and this was the match that garnered the most heel heat for him. Plus, it seemed as though he was 100% healthy for the first time in months. His offense was impressive considering he was giving up 80+ pounds and his bumping here is nothing short of extraordinary. This match solidified his spot in history as the greatest wrestler to ever set foot in a wrestling ring. As great as Ric Flair was, he was not as good as Shawn was in his prime. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Shawn’s performance helped make this match one of the greatest matches in the history of wrestling. If I could give it a higher rating I would. It’s the greatest match of the career of the best wrestler that ever lived. Period.
Rating: *****

To read my column about this match click HERE.

Matches I May Have Missed
Before I wrap this column up I wanted to point out some of the other Shawn Michaels matches that some of you might feel that I missed. As I said in the opening, the only matches that I reviewed are the ones that I still have on tape so that’s why I may have missed a few of the special ones. Some of the matches that I may be missing are:

- Shawn vs. Marty Jannetty from Raw in May ’93 (Some people called it match of the year for ’93. I think I saw it the first time although I haven’t seen it since and thus, don’t remember it at all)

- Shawn vs. Bret Hart ladder match on Coliseum Video from ’93 or ’94 (The first real ladder match in the WWF that took place at a house show. Said to be good but not great)

- Shawn & Diesel vs. 123 Kid & Razor from late ’94 on Coliseum Video (Supposedly a great tag match)

- Royal Rumble ’92: This was a ***** match. However, Shawn was not a major part of it so I decided to omit it from the list.

- Royal Rumble ’95 & ’96: Shawn won both of these Rumbles but they weren’t over ***1/2 in my mind so that’s why they were omitted from the list.

These are the ones that people have talked to me about in the past although there are probably other ones, especially Rocker matches, that I am missing out on too. If you have any questions about a match that did not make the list send me an email and I’ll let you know why it’s not here. The answer will probably be that I have not seen it or it’s just not good enough to make the top twenty.

The REAL Total Package
To wrap this column up let me just list some of the names that benefited by being in the ring with Shawn Michaels. These are the guys who had their greatest matches ever against Michaels: Undertaker, Kevin Nash/Diesel, Scott Hall/Razor Ramon, Jeff Jarrett, Sid and Mick Foley. Those six guys all have been world champions in this business so I’d say that is an impressive list. Very few wrestlers are able to have ****+ matches with opponents of different sizes but Shawn was one of those people. Whether he was wrestling The Undertaker, Diesel, Steve Austin, Bret Hart or Jeff Jarrett one thing you could count on was that Shawn would give you everything he had. I know that many people dislike Shawn for his attitude and I completely understand that. There were many times where his behavior was juvenile and even he has admitted that. If you can put your personal opinion aside for a second you should be able to realize that he is probably the most gifted wrestler to ever step into a wrestling ring. Wrestling is a competitive business so feelings will get hurt, tempers will flair but in the end the talent rises to the top. When you think of talent, think about Shawn Michaels. Forget about Lex Luger, the REAL Total Package is the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels.

I’d really appreciate it if you could send me whatever thoughts you have about the HBK list. What should I do to improve it? What part should I cut out? Should I do another greatest match list and if so who should it be about? Let me know folks because this column is here for you.

Smell ya later,
John C. - wwfjohnc@hotmail.com
AOLIM: JohnC1104

Rewind