wrestling / Video Reviews
Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Shawn Michaels – Superstar Collection
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Judgement Day
May 18, 2008
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
Jericho was the Intercontinental Champion at the time of this match, but the title was not on the line. Another important note would be that I think this would be the last time Jericho wore pants on PPV. I bring the insight.
This match was a part of Shawn’s transition of retiring Flair, feuding with Batista, and then ending up in an all-out blood feud with Jericho. Jericho inserted himself into Shawn’s life after Shawn refused to admit he faked a knee injury to beat Batista at the PPV the month before. It was quite clever.
Speaking of clever, this match was probably the hidden gem of their 2008 feud. Jericho managed to get a step a head of Shawn early on, and it stayed that way for a while. Shawn needed a superkick OUTTA NOWHERE to even things up. Jericho then appeared to down for the count while Shawn tuned up the band. Jericho was faking though and caught Shawn with a Codebreaker for a good nearfall. That was a good way of bringing up the issue that caused them to have a match (and later lead to Jericho’s heel turn). Jericho later went for the Walls, but Shawn reversed it into a pinning combo for the win. This was a treat to re-visit, and it also served a great prologue to their blood feud that would dominate the rest of the year. (***3/4)
Summerslam
August 23, 2009
D-X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H) vs. Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase)
This was Shawn’s return match after the infamous Wrestlemania 25 match with The Undertaker. Triple H called Legacy “girls” before the match, because that is an insult in the WWE. You know, being a woman.
So, this is a weird match. Legacy ended up doing three heat segments in this match. Shawn took two of them, and HHH took one in between them. This seemed like an overly ambitious attempt to make fans care about this match before a big hot tag. That hot tag never came though, as a brief breakdown in the match happened where HHH interfered to give Cody the Pedigree. Shawn then caught Cody with the superkick to win. I guess this match was designed to make Legacy look as strong as possible in defeat. It did not make for an interesting match, nor an exciting one though. This kicked off Shawn’s last eight months as a professional wrestling, and it was simultaneously the beginning of WWE wasting four or five months of Shawn’s final run. (**1/4)
Raw
March 22, 2010
Shawn Michaels vs. Kane
It is inexcusable to put this match on a DVD. Kane beat Shawn up for a bit, Shawn tried out some submissions that he could us on The Undertaker at Wrestlemania, and then The Undertaker showed up to give Shawn a chokeslam. That last part did not lead to a disqualification for whatever reason, and Shawn then won with a superkick. This was an insult to customers.
Wrestlemania
March 28, 2010
Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
The build to this rematch was damn near perfect. Shawn Michaels realized that there wasn’t a whole lot else to do in his career, but his one big failure was not ending the streak in 2009. He called out Taker, but Taker passed on the rematch. Taker was champion at the time, so HBK entered the Royal Rumble to get a shot at Taker’s belt. HBK failed. At Elimination Chamber, Taker was on his way to successfully defending the belt, but HBK came out from underneath the structure and nailed Taker with a superkick, costing the deadman the belt. Taker then accepted Shawn’s challenge but on one condition: if Shawn lost, he retired for good.
To use a movie analogy, this wasn’t a sequel to their 2009 match. It was part two of a two-part story. One match is not complete without the other. Shawn Michaels came to a mental state where he determined his career was not worth continuing if he couldn’t defeat Undertaker at Wrestlemania. No longer willing to accept a hollow win, he knew he had to throw everything he had at Undertaker to defeat him. Undertaker, being dead and all, was able to survive Shawn’s best weapons and eventually overwhelm him at the end. Taker saw the weakened Shawn Michaels and offers pity. He tells him to stay down…but Shawn went down fighting. Taker finished him with a jumping tombstone. Taker’s grudging respect for Shawn, as he knew his greatest opponent’s career was coming to an end, was the perfect cherry to put on top of the feud. Beautiful stuff all around. (*****)
Watch free Shawn Michaels matches:
Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena vs. Kurt Angle [Great match]
Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin [One of my personal favorite Shawn matches]
Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. John Cena & The Undertaker vs. The Big Show & Chris Jericho
Shawn Michaels & John Cena vs. The Undertaker & Batista [This is fun. Recommended.]
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho [Last Man Standing]
Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart [Title vs. Title]
Shawn Michaels, Goldberg, & RVD vs. Randy Orton, Batista, & Kane
Shawn Michaels vs. Rob Van Dam
Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty vs. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard
Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty vs. Los Conquistadors
Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan vs. Daivari & Muhammad Hassan
Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. The Miz & John Morrison
