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Shawn Michaels Fan Thread

150K views 3K replies 91 participants last post by  Mr. WrestleMania 
#1 ·
The Greatest in-ring performer of all time,The Heartbreak Kid,MR. Wrestlemania,and WWE Hall Of Famer,Shawn Michaels



List of Accolades:
WWF World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Triple H
WWF Tag Team/World Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Diesel (2), Stone Cold Steve Austin (1), John Cena (1), Triple H (1)
Royal Rumble (1995, 1996)
First Grand Slam Champion
Fourth Triple Crown Champion
Slammy Awards (15 times)
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)
 
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1
#53 · (Edited)
20 YEARS AGO TODAY


Today marks the 20 year anniversary of the WWF: In Your House PPV: Badd Blood. It marked the debut of the 'Hell in a Cell' match gimmick in a match featuring Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker.





First, if you missed my review of Shawn/Undertaker I, the previous month, at IYH: Ground Zero, here is the link:

Shawn Michaels Fan Thread

History: History: The 1997 feud between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels got its start the previous month at SummerSlam 1997 (which I attended). Shawn was named the special guest referee for WWF World Title Main Event match between the then WWF World Champion Undertaker and Bret Hart. However, there was another stipulation for this match due to the heat and history between Shawn and Bret. If Shawn, in any way, favored Undertaker, he would not be allowed to wrestle in the US ever again. If Bret lost the match, he would be prohibited from wrestling in the US for the rest of his career.

As we all know, Shawn swung a chair to try hit Bret, but Bret ducked and the chair met the top of the Undertaker's skull. Bret covered Taker, and Shawn was forced to make the 3 count for his longtime enemy. This, then moved Undertaker into a feud with Shawn, with a match that culminated at IYH: Ground Zero. That match was a disaster that ended with multiple referees getting beatdown, DX constantly interfering, and a finish without a real winner. To prevent the constant interference, WWF thought it would be a good idea to put these two men in a cage. But not just the same old, blue, steel cage WWF fans had grown accustomed to. They put these guys in a cell to keep it one on one between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Sounded like a good idea on paper. Little did we know that we would get in what my opinion is the greatest match in company history, 20 years ago today..



Shawn Michaels, has his date with destiny..
Undertaker, I'm going to take you down and bury you underneath that ring!
There's only way out, through my dead body...
Do you know who the hell I am?



Match: Taker starts to stalk HBK as like a savage stalking it's prey on the outside of the ring. Taker has all of the time in the world to get revenge is the message they're sending here. Taker with a big boot to Shawn's face as Vince says, "This won't be pretty." Little did we all know. :lol Shawn flies off the bottom turnbuckle as Taker sends Shawn's head thru the top turnbuckle. Taker going for the choke-slam, but Shawn kicks him in the knee and gets some big rights in. Shawn does his turnbuckle flip spot and walks into a hard Taker clothes-line as Shawn literally bounces off the canvas like a basketball. Shawn was such a great, natural bumper. Taker works Shawn's arm and goes 'old school' on Shawn's arm/shoulder. "Rest in Peace" chant as the fans feel no sympathy for Shawn getting his ass kicked. :lol Taker with the body-slam and leg-drop that gets a 2 count. Back-body-drop as Shawn's feet hit the top of the cell. Shawn now feeding Taker as he's bumps for his strikes and Taker then throws Shawn to the outside as he landed directly on his side/hip as doesn't block his fall with his hands at all:


Taker raises Shawn with all his might up against the cell and Shawn counters with an eye-poke. But Taker is still in control as he yanks him down from the side of the cell. I love how they are taking their time here and absolutely nothing is rushed. Taker sends Shawn into the cell as if it's the ropes and Shawn bounces off, only to get clothes-lined down onto the floor. This happens twice in a row as the crowd pops for it. Vince is doing a great job on commentary that Taker can take his time here with getting his revenge on Shawn since they are in a cell and there can be no HHH or Chyna or Rude interference. In a cool spot, Taker goes for the power-bomb in the corner of the cell, only for Shawn to land on Taker's shoulders and start pummeling him. Very creative. Taker regains control and sends Shawn's back into the ring-post. That had to hurt. Shawn is pretty much a sitting duck in this cell. As Vince says, "this is not a good night if you're a Shawn Michaels fan," as Taker has controlled the match with a deliberate, but stern pace. Taker holds Shawn like he's a baby and slams his back into the ring-post and cell back and forth. It's just physical domination at this point and the crowd is loving seeing Taker get his revenge on Shawn for costing him the WWF Title at SummerSlam.

Taker sends Shawn into the cell-side again, but Shawn ducks a clotheslines and regains control after a solid 8 minutes or so. Shawn flees into the ring to get himself together. Taker hits what appears to be a Stunner on Shawn with Shawn's throat meeting the top rope. But Shawn gets up first and sends Taker back outside the ring. Shawn hits a suicide dive between the ropes on Taker and slams into the side of the cell. Shawn, then, with a really, cool innovative moves, climbs up the cell and drops one of his patented elbows on Taker:


Shawn then gets up and spits on some fan in the front-row who appeared to get in his face and say something. :lol Shawn now has control as he hits a clothes-line on Taker from the apron to the outside. The psychology here is that Shawn has regained control (finally) but in order for him to regain control he has to sacrifice his body; i.e.; the elbow from the side of the cell, the tope through the ropes, clothes-line from the apron; and will he be able to keep that control on Taker or will his body give out first? Really good stuff there. Also, about half-way through the match now and it can't be emphasized enough how even though Shawn is the small heel getting his ass kicked, he's retained his heat and the fans have NOT gotten sympathetic for him. That is a great heel and a great baby-face doing their thing. They were over, and over in the way that they SHOULD be. :clap

Shawn in full control using the steps on Taker's back repeatedly. One of the spots of the night right here has Shawn hits an epic pile-driver on Taker on the top of the steel steps.:


As Shawn is trying to get up, the camera man gets in his way, and Shawn kicks the camera and curses at him. More of Shawn being Shawn...or is there a point to that? As we will learn later, there is a point to that and it's a work. Shawn crawls back into the ring as they appear to be having technical difficulties (or are they, or is someone/thing ominous about to go down later on?), Shawn hits a double ax-handle on Taker on the outside. Say what you want about Shawn, but he's looking pretty resilient here after that ass-kicking from earlier. Shawn comes back in with a chair as Vince correctly points out, "That's what started it all in the first place, a chair!" Love the psychology and call-back here to SummerSlam and really, the entire build. This is storytelling at it's finest. Shawn hits Taker with a stiff chair-shot on the back as Taker goes down:


JR correctly exclaims, "AND MICHAELS HAS TO DO WHAT MICHAELS HAS TO DO.. TO SURVIVE!" Exactly. Shawn delivers another chair-shot to Taker's back and throws the chair outside the ring. This only gets a 2 count on Taker, though. Shawn and Taker trade rights back and forth. Shawn regains control and locks Taker in the ropes and starts peppering him with some rights. Earl gets Shawn off of Taker, and charges Taker, but Taker hits a boot only for Shawn to come back and get back-body-dropped out of the ring and onto that same camera-man. Shawn goes ballistic and punches the cameraman out:


(Funny sidenote on the cameraman: Over the years up until a few years ago, I used to think the cameraman was 2 Cold Scorpio. It wasn't just the small ponytail the camerman had, but also the fact that if you watch this, they went out of their way NOT to show this guys' face, but only the back of the head, and he had the same hairstyle that Scorpio had at times. But it wasn't him. It was just a local St. Louis indy wrestler that they hired for this spot in the match. He did a good job. :lol )

HBK then proceeds to stomp the cameraman as hey lay there helpless on the ground. Poor guy. Shawn the goes over and yells at Vince at the commentary table. I remember there used to be people (might still be) who thought all of this was real with the cameraman and yelling at Vince. When in reality, it was just creating drama for the match and an opportunity to open up the cell door to get the cameraman "help." People are so easy to work. :lol Shawn hits his patented flying forearm on Taker, and kips up. Shawn then hits Taker with his patented elbow drop:


Sgt. Slaughter had made his way down to attend to the injured cameraman. The ref (Earl Hebner) is unlocking the cell so Slaughter and the EMTs can help get the wounded camera-man out of there. Again, excellent psychology and good reasoning for them to open up the cell door.

Back in the ring Shawn is tuning up the band for some Sweet Chin Music and he nails Taker in the chin with the bottom of his boot, but Taker gets right back up like a man possessed!:


Crowd pops huge for that, as they know the shit is now on to an even higher level! Shawn makes his way out of the ring, seeing Hebner and Slaughter opening up the door for the cameraman and is able to actually sneak his way out! Taker stalks him from behind and both men are out of the cell for the first time all night! Shawn strikes Taker with two hard rights and dropkicks him into the cell. HBK tries another dropkick but Taker catches his legs and slingshots him into the cell! The fans are going crazy at this point, as this is all brand new stuff. Shawn is now bleeding as he hits the floor. Taker, back in control, is pummeling Shawn with some hard rights of his own. He picks Shawn up on his shoulder, runs, and sends his face into the cell! He then does it again! This moment would be shown at the opening of Raw for years to come, even when Shawn was retired in the late 90's. Iconic moment:



Shawn regains control with a kick to the nuts. He's desperate at this point and a bloody mess. Shawn begins to climb the cell as Taker tries to get him down, but can't do it. Both men are at the top of the cell and the St. Louis crowd is going nuts before they even get physical up there! It truly is a spectacle of a sight! Shawn gets back-body-dropped onto the cell ceiling and the fans are losing their shit! Taker grates Shawn's face on the cell and a drop of Shawn's blood goes through the cell onto the cameraman's lens, and you can clearly hear the cameraman yell, "AH SHIT!" :lol Can't believe they didn't edit that out. Taker then gorilla pres slams Shawn onto the cell ceiling! Shawn makes his way over to the side of the cell to try to climb down it peacefully, but Taker catches him and isn't going to let him off that easy! Shawn's legs are now dangling from left to right off the cell as Taker as a hold of Shawn's upper body and the fans can't believe what they are seeing. It's like waiting for the Michael Myers to kill his prey. The fans love it!

Taker, finally, just stomps on Shawn's hands, one by one, as they are the only thing holding him up at this point. Shawn, then, flies off the side of the cell and CRASHES through the announce table!!! The crowd is going nuts as they really can't believe they just what they saw!


This was the biggest bump in history of the company up to this point. Shawn just lies there in puddle of his own blood as the crowd goes nuts in the background. What a fucking moment as JR exclaims, not once, but twice, 'MICHAELS MAY BE BROKEN IN HALF!!!!" He's right, as Taker climbs his way down from the top of the cell. Taker throws Shawn onto the other announce table as Shawn's feet are stuck in some cable cords. Taker then body-slams Shawn from the top of one of the announce tables onto the shards of the broken announce table, as you then hear a small "ECW" chant. :lol Shawn is now an even bloodier mess as he's back in the ring:


Hebner and Slaughter are shown trying to re-lock the cell, now that Shawn and Taker are back inside. Taker, slowly, but surely stalks his way into the ring where Shawn is there waiting for him. Taker hits Shawn with a clothes-line as Shawn's body literally bounces off the canvas. Taker in full control now. Taker then choke-slams Shawn off the top turnbuckle! Man, what an absolute beating Shawn's body took in this match. JR, then correctly states, "THIS AIN'T NO CAGE MATCH!" It sure as fuck wasn't. Taker then grabs a chair from the outside, as Vince says, "Maybe we will see poetic justice here!." This made perfect sense as Shawn not only cost Taker the WWF Title at SummerSlam with a chair-shot to the head, but also hit Taker with multiple chair-shots in the build to this match. And Taker promptly collects his receipt with literally the stiffest chair-shot I've ever seen in my life as Shawn does NOT get his hand(s) up to block it, not even alittle bit, as he knew, he had to take this chair-shot for the sake of the storyline and match. And, did he ever:


Crowd is ecstatic! It appears Taker is going to get his revenge and get the win! But the lights suddenly go out...?

Some music hits, and then Paul Bearer makes his way down the ramp with a huge, masked man in red and black attire, and as we all know, Vince exclaims, "THAT'S GOT TO BE KANE! THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE!!!"

And...it was. The cell door is locked, but that's not a problem for KANE:


Kane and Taker are now face to face. Taker has a puzzled look on his face, like he can't believe what he's seeing. Crowd is stunned as Kane lifts his arms, and the ring-posts release fire:


Kane then tombstones Taker and leaves the ringside area, as the fans are pissed! Shawn, who was lying down on the mat through all of this, still has presence of mind to crawl over a few feet to Taker and draped an arm over Taker's body as Earl makes a slow 3 count.


Triple H and Chyna come ringside to peel HBK off the mat and help him to the back as he is this-close to being dead. He's a bloody mess and needs their help to the back:


Review: I've said it numerous times on this very website, but this is my favorite match in wrestling history. They mastered the pace and played in concert with the entire storyline/build. Shawn cost taker the Title 2 months earlier and since then, has terrorized Taker with multiple brain-crushing chair-shots and nonstop interference from Triple H, Chyna, and Rick Rude. The psychology of the cell was to keep it 1 on 1, Taker vs. Shawn, so no one could interfere. That being said, the pace was set early with Taker, slowly, but surely stalking his prey . He took his time, but delivered some bone-crunching offense in measured and methodical fashion; which is exactly what the start of the match called for to make sense with the storyline/build going into the match.

Shawn's part in this match was to play the cat and mouse game. To make the Undertaker chase him and hopefully for him, eventually slow down and tire out. While Shawn was playing the hide and seek game, he also got some good shots in on Taker that Shawn hoped would take their toll on Taker, along with the chasing of Shawn.

The artistry of Taker, being a much bigger babyface and pummeling Shawn half to death, but keeping his pops and at the same time Shawn, being the much smaller heel, taking an ass-beating, and NOT getting sympathy at any point in the match and retaining his heat is something that can't be emphasized enough of how it takes two world-class, experienced workers to pull off, especially in front of a PPV crowd that wasn't smarky. You can tell this is a match they put together mostly themselves and didn't have to work with too many 'agents' like today's generation in WWE has to.

The action picked up and slowed down at the perfect moments taking fans on the perfect roller-coaster type of ride. And even when they slowed it down (out of necessity, not laziness), the action was still near top notch and kept the attention of the fans the entire time. It could not have been easy to be the two hamsters having to experiment with a brand new stipulation match. These two laid down the foundation of the 'Hell in a Cell' match and did it perfectly in exactly ONE try. I don't think people get how difficult that is/was and had to be.

The fall off the side of the cell is a bump, that as a wrestling fan, has been burned into my brain since it took place 20 years ago. I know the Mankind bump is crazier and more impressive from a 'holy fucking shit' standpoint. I get that and accept it. But this was no slouch of a bump either, and laid the foundation down for the Mankind bump; and that's a fact.

Not only is this my favorite Shawn Michaels match of all time, and my favorite match of all time period. But IMO, this is the best match in WWF/E history. I know there are alot of other great all time matches in this company's history like Bret/Austin WM 13, and the HBK/Taker WM series down the road. But, to me, nothing tops this match. Perfect blend of action, bumps, and playing in concert with the build, which you rarely see anymore. Over the past 20 years, I have watched this match somewhere in the hundreds. Not sure how many exactly, but definitely over 100. If you have never seen this match before (you poor soul); do yourself a favor and watch this match as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading.

@Empress @Legit BOSS @A-C-P @DX-Superkick @BTheVampireSlayer

@Moho Hwoarang @Flair Flop @Just_Bring_It101 @Law @TripleG @STAY CLASSY @MC 16 @SureUmm @Ronny927 @birthday_massacre @Nightrow @Dolorian @Reversoul @DGenerationMC @DammitC @Brock @Headliner @Clique @CJ @venkyrenga
 
#31 · (Edited)
Re: The Shawn Michaels Fan Thread

Today marks the 20 year anniversary of the first televised (in this case, PPV) match between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker on September 7, 1997. The PPV was In Your House: Ground Zero; in Louisville, KY.




History: The 1997 feud between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels got it's start the previous month at SummerSlam 1997 (which I attended). Shawn was named the special guest referee for WWF World Title Main Event match between the then WWF World Champion Undertaker and Bret Hart. However, there was another stipulation for this match due to the heat and history between Shawn and Bret. If Shawn, in any way, favored Undertaker, he would not be allowed to wrestle in the US ever again. If Bret lost the match, he would be prohibited from wrestling in the US ever again.

As we all know, Shawn swung a chair to try hit Bret, but Bret ducked and the chair met the top of the Undertaker's skull. Bret covered Taker, and Shawn was forced to make the 3 count for his longtime enemy. This, then moved Undertaker into a feud with Shawn, with a match that culminated on this date, 20 years ago tonight.

Short Pre-Match Official Promo Video:
"I don't give a damn what anybody...thinks of ME."
"What lays in the darkness, is a demon.."
"Undertaker, you and I have never crossed paths...until now!"
"I will possess your soul..."

Match: This match, in a way, almost served as an appetizer/tease to a much bigger course that we would all get the following month. But that doesn't stop this match from being a good, intense, high energy brawl.

Shawn makes his way down the entrance ramp, and spits on some fans in the crowd, who then return fire with throwing some garbage at him, resulting in Shawn giving us that wonderful shit-eating grin, as it seemed to amuse him.


Shawn then enters the ring and does his patented pose. Only thing is the pyro goes off later and very slowly, which Shawn doesn't appreciate. So, he makes the hand gesture jerk-off sign and then mocks the slow pyro:




Interestingly enough, this 'match' starts off with the Undertaker knocking out ref Mike Chioda, before he can even ring the bell! He then proceeds to gorilla-press-slam Chioda over the top rope and onto Shawn:


Taker and Shawn then proceed to have a 6 minute brawl, all over the arena, before the match even officially starts. That was pretty crazy for back then, and hell, would be pretty crazy for today, as well. During those 6 minutes, Taker was VERY dominant, as he should've been, landing punch after punch on Shawn. At one point, when they are at the top of the entrance ramp, Taker literally throws Shawn down the steel ramp and Shawn proceeds to bump down the entire length of the steel ramp. He felt that one the next morning:





One of the things I always liked about the HBK/Taker 1997 matches was just how aggressive and violent the action was, on both guys' part, and this was no different. The action is so deliberate and not rushed. After the brawl, HBK sneaks in to the ring while Taker has his back turned for a second, and he chop blocks Taker, and the bell officially rings. :lol That is one of the sickest pre-match brawls I've ever seen, if not the best televised one.

This match comes at a time when the crowd was used to, for years, the bigger guy, for the most part, being the heel, and the smaller guy, being the underdog babyface. It always amazed me in these set of matches that Shawn was able to keep his heat and Taker stayed getting his pops. The ref finally rings the bell with Shawn trying his best to bring Taker down on a sunset-flip, but Taker just over-powers him and lifts him up to the air with both hands and the crowd loves it. Shawn sent onto the top turnbuckle on his stomach, and Taker is just kicking the shit out of his stomach repeatedly, before ending the sequence with a stiff forearm for a 2 count.

Early on, the power display of Taker is on full display, as it seems like he's just toying with Shawn and taking his time, via the power-game, where Shawn is no-match for 'Taker. Shawn does counter 'Old School', though as Taker lands on his nuts. Shawn with the baseball slide with Taker outside of the ring. Shawn gets caught as Taker catches him jumping over the top and bangs Shawns' back into the post twice. Shawn gets up and spits in a fans' face. :lol And they go back in the ring...

Taker with a low-blow right in front of the ref that Vince tries to cover up with that the ref is too scared of Taker to DQ him. Shawn gets backbody-dropped into nearly the ceiling. Insane the amount of air he used to get on those. Those couldn't be good for his back. Just saying. Shawn eventually counters with a spinning-neckbreaker, but Taker 'rises' up and Shawn walks to the outside and gets a chair. Taker stalks him and foils Shawn's attempted chair-shot. Good callback spot there to SummerSlam with the chair, which started this feud. Ref pulls back the chair when Taker tries to hit Shawn with it and Shawn regains control with the distraction with a dropkick to Taker. Ref bumped. Shawn drops two of his patented elbows in a row. Taker and Hebner are down.

Shawn goes for the pin, but Earl is still out of it with a slow 2 count and Rick Rude makes his way down to ringside, and tosses Shawn some brass knuckles which he promptly knocks Taker out with and goes for the pin, but Earl is still out of it. In comes another ref, but another 2 count, and Shawn knocks him out. HHH and Chyna are now ringside as they realize they need as much man-power as possible for this one..

Shawn continues to stomp on Taker while the ref situation is in complete disarray. HHH pounding away on Taker on the outside and Chyna gets in a shot with sending Taker into the steel steps. It's like 4 on 1 now. :lol And Shawn helps Earl up, only to send him head-first into the turnbuckle and laughs about it. Seems like the entire crowd is standing up, but kind of in shock with the refs being a complete non-factor in this match/brawl.

Fans chant 'Rest in Peace' as Taker starts to fire-up a comeback with a bunch of hard-rights. Shawn fights back with some kicks and clotheslines Taker outside of the ring for HHH to get some shots in. Taker no-sells a Chyna punch, and Shawn comes off the top rope with an ax-handle that gets Taker down. Nice sequence there. The story here is that the numbers are too much for Taker to overcome as Shawn chokes Taker with a cable and HHH kicks Taker repeatedly on the outside of the ring.

Back in the ring, Shawn slips out of a tombstone attempt, goes for some Sweet Chin Music, only for Taker to catch Shawn's foot and sends him into the corner and takes his brass knuckles out of his tights. Taker knocks Shawn down with the brass knuckles and knocks HHH down from the apron. Pin attempt, but Taker only gets a loooong 2 count. Taker then chokeslams Hebner and hits a flying clothesline on Shawn only for another ref to come down and end the match.

Post match Happenings: Back and forth between the two, Taker goes to chokeslam Shawn:


But lets him and goes to apron and chokeslams HHH from the apron and onto Shawn.
Shawn hits a superkick that locks Taker up in the ropes. But he's able to block a chairshot with his foot and almost tombstones Shawn, only for HHH to stop that. Brisco and other officials are in the ring as Shawn and Trips knock them down. Taker hits a tombstone on HHH. This is the show in which Taker debuted his tope over the top rope onto the outside as he lands on seemingly the majority of the WWF roster. Awesome visual and ending to the show:




Review: Well, if people thought they were just going to get a traditional one on one match here; they couldn't be more wrong. Hard-hitting, brass knuckles, chairs, multiple referees getting knocked the fuck out by BOTH Shawn and Undertaker. A brutal 6 minute pre-match brawl spanning from the top of the entrance ramp to all the way onto the Spanish announce table ringside. Taker working a brutal, hard-hitting style, with Shawn trying to use his quickness and speed to dodge the Undertaker. While, at the same time, using his stable-mates to his advantage on the outside of the ring and trying to get Undertaker on the outside of the ring multiple times during the match. Good psychology all around. Let's be honest, there has to be some great psychology here for the smaller guy getting his ass kicked almost the entire match to maintain his heat, which he did and the bigger guy get cheered which is exactly what happened.

This match definitely sent the viewer two messages here:

1) The number game was too much for Taker to deal with all by himself in a tradition one on one setting. HBK, HHH, Chyna, Rude vs one man was just too much.

2)) This feud was far from over and was just the appetizer to a much bigger deal the following month. The constant interference from HHH, Chyna, and Rick Rude was the perfect reason from a story aspect on WHY they made a "Hell in a Cell" the very next month; so these two can have a one on one match with NO outside interference. Amazing! Stuff actually made sense for this company back then! Most people, at the time, thought Taker/HBK would have a cage match the following month. They were half-right. They just didn't know what kind of cage. And the fact that it would go down as one of the, and in my opinion, THE greatest match in company history on October 5, 1997.

See you next month...

@Brock @DammitC @Empress @Moho Hwoarang @L-DOPA @yeahbaby! @DX-Superkick @DGenerationMC @venkyrenga @Lm2 @JafarMustDie @BTheVampireSlayer @Ace @Dolorian @CJ @Reversoul @THE RETURN OF THE SHIV @A-C-P @Legit BOSS

Shouted out everyone who has already posted on this thread and some others. :)[/CENTER][/CENTER]
 
#105 · (Edited)
20 YEARS AGO TODAY
Today marks the 20 year anniversary of the 1997 Survivor Series, also known as the Montreal Screwjob match between WWF World Champion Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.


History: The Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels saga goes back to 1988. In 1988, a young, up and coming tag team known as The Rockers made their way to the WWF, after a few years of working across the country in different territories such as AWA, Continental Wreslting in Alabama, and Championship Wrestling Association (CWA) in Memphis, TN with Jerry Lawler in charge. The Hart Foundation, made up of Bret Hart and Jim Neidhardt and managed by Jimmy Hart in 1985. They made their WWF PPV debut in a 20 man battle royal at WrestleMania 2. They managed to win their first WWF Tag Team titles on the February 7, 1987 edition of Superstars from the British Bulldogs.

The Rockers and Hart Foundation had a nice series of matches themselves in the late 1980's. The Rockers actually beat the Hart Foundation for the tag titles on the 4/23/90 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event in a 2/3 Falls match. But due to the top rope breaking early in the match; the match was a trainwreck and didn't get aired, nullifying the Rockers tag title win. Bret and Shawn have both said that in this time period they were friends and Shawn kind of looked up to Bret in this time period.

In 1992, Bret Hart won his first WWF World Title and Shawn Michaels won his first Intercontinental Title. This was no accident. By late 1992, the WWF was starting a youth movement with more of a focus on matches and performances, and Bret and Shawn were the two guys slated to lead the WWF into it's "New Generation." In the mid 90's, Bret was cementing his legacy as an all time great and WWF Icon as perrenial main eventer and multiple time WWF World Champion. He was a young(ish) whitemeat, babyface that played the hero role perfectly for that era and young, new generation of fans in that time period. Shawn was making a name for himself as a very solid, mid-card heel Intercontinental Champion and at times WWF Tag Team Champion with his bodyguard, Diesel. In this time period, Shawn was support on Bret's show and the two have said in this time period there was no heat between the two and both admired eachother's work.

Fast forward to late 1995, and Diesel, after long title run dropped the WWF Championship to Bret. Shawn was humming along as IC Champion when he got jumped by a bunch of marines in Syracuse. He dissappeard from TV in an effort to freshen him up and get him ready for a big push to the main event, where he was slated to win the World Title from Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12 in 1996. Shawn comes back and wins the 1996 Royal Rumble and goes onto face Bret at WM 12 in face vs face 60 minute Ironman match. Shawn wins the title and Bret leaves as his contract is up and he wanted to listen to offers from WCW and try his hand in acting. In this time period and before this even, Bret told Shawn that he was going to make off-color comments about Shawn to set-up a rematch between the two. Shawn was okay with this at first when Bret told him he was going to do this, but as time went on, and when Bret was listening to offers from WWF rival, WCW, Shawn felt Bret should've stopped making the comments since there was a chance Bret was going to WCW. But the comments persisted, especially in Bret's weekly Calgary Sun Column, with the comment of "Shawn's parents should be ashamed to have a son like him" pushing Shawn over the edge and creating some heat between the two.

Bret decides to re-sign with the WWF and beats Steve Austin at SS'96, while Shawn drops the title to Sid at the same show. Shawn would go onto regain the Title in his hometown of San Antonio, TX at the 1997 Royal Rumble. The rematch for Shawn/Bret was apparently setup for WrestleMania 13. But at the Febraury 13 Raw, Shawn dropped the belt with an apparent knee injury. Many felt that the knee injury was being exaggerated by Shawn to get out of dropping the belt to Bret. Shawn says Vince never asked him to drop the belt to Bret at WM13. They miss the opportunity of a rematch at WM 13.


On the 5/12/97 edition of Raw, the ending of segment was supposed to consist of Bret running Shawn down on the mic while both stood in the ring with Shawn ultimately superkicking him as the show went off air. However, Bret missed his cue and forgot a phrase that he really wanted to say on air, and the show ended instead with Bret going off on the mic. Shawn didn't get to kick Bret until they went off air. Shawn was hot and thought Bret did this on purpose, thus creating a ton of heat. It was the very next week's edition of Raw on 5/26, where Shawn, as retaliation, hit Bret with the 'Sunny Days' comment, thus throwing even more heat on the Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart fire.

Shawn would make his in-ring debut at the 5/26 Raw in a tag title match, in which he and Steve Austin won the Tag Titles from Owen Hart and the British Bulldog. Shawn and Bret were scheduled to have a match at KOTR '97, but in this time period, Bret had an injured knee. So, another rematch doesn't happen. It was the next night, on the 6/9 Raw, where Shawn and Bret got into a backstage fight with eachother. Bret wound up ripping out a clump of Shawn's hair; and this was the time where Shawn almost went to WCW, but was convinced to stay in the WWF.

Shawn would return a month later, and be the special guest referee for the SummerSlam 1997 WWF World Title match between the then Champion Undertaker vs. Bret Hart. We all know what happen here; Shawn costs Taker the title, and Bret is World Champion.

On 9/22/97, during the day of Monday Night Raw at Madison Square Garden, Vince informed Bret that he wanted out of their contract. There have been countering reports of Vince not being able to afford Bret, and more recently, where Bruce Prichard said on an episode of his big hit Something to Wrestle podcast, that Bret wasn't willing to take a paycut. I guess no one will ever know. Bret goes back to WCW, and gets his old offer back from 1996. The only problem is Bret is still WWF World Champion..

Bret states in his book that one day he, Jim Neidhardt, and Ken Shamrock were in the lockerroom when Shawn came around. Bret says that he said that despite all of the crap he and Shawn have been through, that he's still willing to put Shawn over, if that's what Vince wants. According to Bret, Shawn replied with, "I appreciate that. But I'm not willing to do the same for you." This obviously enraged Bret and what made Bret not want to drop the title to Shawn. From here, Vince and Bret work tirelessly to try to come up with an agreeable solution for both sides, and Bret thinks he has one on the night of the show, with a DQ.

Which brings us to this..



Shawn makes his way down to the ring and has some fun with the Candaian crowd. He goes onto crotch-chop and hump the Canadian flag:

and wipe his nose with it..


Bret makes his way down, and Shawn is getting it from the crowd, and we get this all time great gif:



Match: Shawn attacks Bret from behind like a true heel to start us off. Bret fights back with some hard rights and Shawn bumps as the crowd is very much in Bret's favor and very loud as Bret gets his shots in. This already has the feel of a big time match. Something was just in the air that night. Alot of the fans in the crowd on this night knew what was going on behind the scenes. Bret pounding way on Shawn and follows up with a headbutt and clothesline over the top rope. Shawns goes face first into the ring post, and the bell hasn't even been rung yet.

Bret clearly has the upperhand in this prematch brawl that has spilled to the outside. Bret throws Shawn into the crowd, and Brete follows him. But the crowd converges on both guys, making it impossible for them to go any further than just over the guardrail. So, Bret throws Shawn back over the guardrail and they are ringside again. Shawn gains the upperhand with a right as Bret was too far away to see it coming. Hardhitting brawul thus far, as Commisioner Slaughter, referees Earl Hebner, Mike Chioda, and a couople others are trying to get these two into the ring, but neither guy is having any of that as Shawn chokes Bret with an American flag and the fans boo.

Shawn thorws Bret over the guardrail and pounds away on him. He actually tries a piledriver, but Bret reverses it and back-body-drops Shawn over the guardrail and back ringside. Bret and Shawn take this up the entrance way. Shawn again tries a piledriver, only for Bret to backbody drop him again on to the concrete. Bret hits Shawn with a vertical suplex onto the concrete. Shawn hits Pat Patterson as he and a number of officials are trying to get these guuys back in the ring, but they refuse and just keep brawling. Good old-fashioned fight, as King says, between two guys who 'hate eachothers guts.' Now Vince goes face to face with Bret, trying to get him back in the ring. The crowd loves the tease of Bret/Vince as they know what is going on. Bret controls the brawl as they work their way FINALLY back into the ring where Bret chokes Shawn with a Qubecian flag. Bell has rung.

Bret in control hits Shawn with a legdrop and an atomic drop. HBK is selling his ass off for most of this match. Shawn hits Bret with his patented flying forearm and kips-up to a chorus of boos. Shawn finally back in control as he kicks Shawn right between the eyes. "Shawn is Gay" chant as the fans want blood tonight. :lol Shawn takes his turn on choking Bret with the Qubecian flag and crotch-chops a bunch of college-aged guys sitting ringside. They're flipping him off and telling him to 'bring it' and Shawn just laughs it off before he sends Shawns head into the top turnbuckle and then throws Bret out of the ring right in front of those very same fans that were taunting him. He places Bret right next to him, and punches Bret in the face, right in front of those fans, and Shawn laughs in those fans' faces. :lol He really was such a great dick-face heel. Great shit-eating grin, too. Shawn in control here as he send Bret face-first into the steel steps in a kind of suplex looking move. Shawn breaks a Canadian flagpole and hits Bret in the throat with it.

Back in the ring, Shawn hits Bret with an axe-handle from behind. Shawn grabs a front-face-lock trying to wear Bret down. Bret starts to fight back and launches Shawn half-way across the ring. Shawn regains control with a rake to the face. More 'Shawn is Gay chants. Bret and Shawn go back and forth as Shawn again rakes the face and takes control with a bodyslam and crossbody off the top, but Bret rolls through. Bret kicking Shawn in the knee repeatedly and goes for the sharpshotter around the ringpost. Fans are loving it.

Bret continues to work Shawn's knee and is doing a good job if it, thus far. Bret does a figure-four on Shawn as Shawn is in extreme pain right in the middle of the ring, but he's not giving up. Shawn reverses it, but Bret is right on the rope. Bret is up first as the fans chant his name. Working on Shawn in the corner and send him into the corner, HBK flip-spot, into side-Russian legsweep for a 2 count. Bret does his patented headbutt into the lower abdomen. Vertical suplex for a 2 count, into a back-breaker. Bret in control...again. Bret goes to the top but Shawn drags Earl into the middle of them, and Earl goes down hard. Shawn and Bret get back up, and Shawn rakes Brets' eyes and Bret goes down..

Shawn, then puts Bret into the sharpshooter, and the fans can't believe it. Earl, slowly, but surely, gets back up, and we all know what happens from here. Vince screams 'RING THE FUCKING BELL!' at timekeeper Mark Yeaton and Earl is signalling for the bell to be rung, and the bell rings without Bret giving up.


Bret goes to reverse it, which was the plan, but it's too late as the bell has rung. Bret has a look on his face, like 'what the fuck?' and spits in Vince McMahon's eye.


Shawn takes the belt and acts as if he didn't know, but he did.

Review: The shame of it is it was actually gearing up to be a really good match before it abruptly ended. We all know what came from this match. Shawn would go onto injure his back 2 months later, and drop the Title to Steve Austin at WM 14. Bret would go to WCW, get paid very handsomely, but unfortunately, WCW had no idea how to use Bret correctly. To make matters a million times worse, Owen would pass away a couple of years later at a WWF PPV coming down from the ceiling. Due to these factors, Bret wouldn't make up with WWE until years later. Bret would get inducted into the WWE HOF in 2005 and make a documentary DVD with the company, but it wasn't 100% make-up with the company.

Shawn would become born again, not only in life, but in wrestling, and come back in 2002 and have an incredible 8 year run before calling it quits and be regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time. Bret and Shawn would not make up until 2009. They remain on good terms to this day.

@Brock @Headliner @DammitC @Legit BOSS @Donnie @The Fourth Wall @Flair Flop @Nightrow @DGenerationMC @STAY CLASSY @MC 16 @TripleG @Law @Dolorian @Reversoul @Moho Hwoarang @birthday_massacre @SureUmm @CJ @Clique @THE RETURN OF THE SHIV @Youthquake @webb_dustin
 
#111 ·
20 YEARS AGO TODAY
Today marks the 20 year anniversary of the 1997 Survivor Series, also known as the Montreal Screwjob match between WWF World Champion Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.


History: The Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels saga goes back to 1988. In 1988, a young, up and coming tag team known as The Rockers made their way to the WWF, after a few years of working across the country in different territories such as AWA, Continental Wreslting in Alabama, and Championship Wrestling Association (CWA) in Memphis, TN with Jerry Lawler in charge. The Hart Foundation, made up of Bret Hart and Jim Neidhardt and managed by Jimmy Hart in 1985. They made their WWF PPV debut in a 20 man battle royal at WrestleMania 2. They managed to win their first WWF Tag Team titles on the February 7, 1987 edition of Superstars from the British Bulldogs.

The Rockers and Hart Foundation had a nice series of matches themselves in the late 1980's. The Rockers actually beat the Hart Foundation for the tag titles on the 4/23/90 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event in a 2/3 Falls match. But due to the top rope breaking early in the match; the match was a trainwreck and didn't get aired, nullifying the Rockers tag title win. Bret and Shawn have both said that in this time period they were friends and Shawn kind of looked up to Bret in this time period.

In 1992, Bret Hart won his first WWF World Title and Shawn Michaels won his first Intercontinental Title. This was no accident. By late 1992, the WWF was starting a youth movement with more of a focus on matches and performances, and Bret and Shawn were the two guys slated to lead the WWF into it's "New Generation." In the mid 90's, Bret was cementing his legacy as an all time great and WWF Icon as perrenial main eventer and multiple time WWF World Champion. He was a young(ish) whitemeat, babyface that played the hero role perfectly for that era and young, new generation of fans in that time period. Shawn was making a name for himself as a very solid, mid-card heel Intercontinental Champion and at times WWF Tag Team Champion with his bodyguard, Diesel. In this time period, Shawn was support on Bret's show and the two have said in this time period there was no heat between the two and both admired eachother's work.

Fast forward to late 1995, and Diesel, after long title run dropped the WWF Championship to Bret. Shawn was humming along as IC Champion when he got jumped by a bunch of marines in Syracuse. He dissappeard from TV in an effort to freshen him up and get him ready for a big push to the main event, where he was slated to win the World Title from Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12 in 1996. Shawn comes back and wins the 1996 Royal Rumble and goes onto face Bret at WM 12 in face vs face 60 minute Ironman match. Shawn wins the title and Bret leaves as his contract is up and he wanted to listen to offers from WCW and try his hand in acting. In this time period and before this even, Bret told Shawn that he was going to make off-color comments about Shawn to set-up a rematch between the two. Shawn was okay with this at first when Bret told him he was going to do this, but as time went on, and when Bret was listening to offers from WWF rival, WCW, Shawn felt Bret should've stopped making the comments since there was a chance Bret was going to WCW. But the comments persisted, especially in Bret's weekly Calgary Sun Column, with the comment of "Shawn's parents should be ashamed to have a son like him" pushing Shawn over the edge and creating some heat between the two.

Bret decides to re-sign with the WWF and beats Steve Austin at SS'96, while Shawn drops the title to Sid at the same show. Shawn would go onto regain the Title in his hometown of San Antonio, TX at the 1997 Royal Rumble. The rematch for Shawn/Bret was apparently setup for WrestleMania 13. But at the Febraury 13 Raw, Shawn dropped the belt with an apparent knee injury. Many felt that the knee injury was being exaggerated by Shawn to get out of dropping the belt to Bret. Shawn says Vince never asked him to drop the belt to Bret at WM13. They miss the opportunity of a rematch at WM 13.


On the 5/12/97 edition of Raw, the ending of segment was supposed to consist of Bret running Shawn down on the mic while both stood in the ring with Shawn ultimately superkicking him as the show went off air. However, Bret missed his cue and forgot a phrase that he really wanted to say on air, and the show ended instead with Bret going off on the mic. Shawn didn't get to kick Bret until they went off air. Shawn was hot and thought Bret did this on purpose, thus creating a ton of heat. It was the very next week's edition of Raw on 5/26, where Shawn, as retaliation, hit Bret with the 'Sunny Days' comment, thus throwing even more heat on the Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart fire.

Shawn would make his in-ring debut at the 5/26 Raw in a tag title match, in which he and Steve Austin won the Tag Titles from Owen Hart and the British Bulldog. Shawn and Bret were scheduled to have a match at KOTR '97, but in this time period, Bret had an injured knee. So, another rematch doesn't happen. It was the next night, on the 6/9 Raw, where Shawn and Bret got into a backstage fight with eachother. Bret wound up ripping out a clump of Shawn's hair; and this was the time where Shawn almost went to WCW, but was convinced to stay in the WWF.

Shawn would return a month later, and be the special guest referee for the SummerSlam 1997 WWF World Title match between the then Champion Undertaker vs. Bret Hart. We all know what happen here; Shawn costs Taker the title, and Bret is World Champion.

On 9/22/97, during the day of Monday Night Raw at Madison Square Garden, Vince informed Bret that he wanted out of their contract. There have been countering reports of Vince not being able to afford Bret, and more recently, where Bruce Prichard said on an episode of his big hit Something to Wrestle podcast, that Bret wasn't willing to take a paycut. I guess no one will ever know. Bret goes back to WCW, and gets his old offer back from 1996. The only problem is Bret is still WWF World Champion..

Bret states in his book that one day he, Jim Neidhardt, and Ken Shamrock were in the lockerroom when Shawn came around. Bret says that he said that despite all of the crap he and Shawn have been through, that he's still willing to put Shawn over, if that's what Vince wants. According to Bret, Shawn replied with, "I appreciate that. But I'm not willing to do the same for you." This obviously enraged Bret and what made Bret not want to drop the title to Shawn. From here, Vince and Bret work tirelessly to try to come up with an agreeable solution for both sides, and Bret thinks he has one on the night of the show, with a DQ.

Which brings us to this..



Shawn makes his way down to the ring and has some fun with the Candaian crowd. He goes onto crotch-chop and hump the Canadian flag:

and wipe his nose with it..


Bret makes his way down, and Shawn is getting it from the crowd, and we get this all time great gif:



Match: Shawn attacks Bret from behind like a true heel to start us off. Bret fights back with some hard rights and Shawn bumps as the crowd is very much in Bret's favor and very loud as Bret gets his shots in. This already has the feel of a big time match. Something was just in the air that night. Alot of the fans in the crowd on this night knew what was going on behind the scenes. Bret pounding way on Shawn and follows up with a headbutt and clothesline over the top rope. Shawns goes face first into the ring post, and the bell hasn't even been rung yet.

Bret clearly has the upperhand in this prematch brawl that has spilled to the outside. Bret throws Shawn into the crowd, and Brete follows him. But the crowd converges on both guys, making it impossible for them to go any further than just over the guardrail. So, Bret throws Shawn back over the guardrail and they are ringside again. Shawn gains the upperhand with a right as Bret was too far away to see it coming. Hardhitting brawul thus far, as Commisioner Slaughter, referees Earl Hebner, Mike Chioda, and a couople others are trying to get these two into the ring, but neither guy is having any of that as Shawn chokes Bret with an American flag and the fans boo.

Shawn thorws Bret over the guardrail and pounds away on him. He actually tries a piledriver, but Bret reverses it and back-body-drops Shawn over the guardrail and back ringside. Bret and Shawn take this up the entrance way. Shawn again tries a piledriver, only for Bret to backbody drop him again on to the concrete. Bret hits Shawn with a vertical suplex onto the concrete. Shawn hits Pat Patterson as he and a number of officials are trying to get these guuys back in the ring, but they refuse and just keep brawling. Good old-fashioned fight, as King says, between two guys who 'hate eachothers guts.' Now Vince goes face to face with Bret, trying to get him back in the ring. The crowd loves the tease of Bret/Vince as they know what is going on. Bret controls the brawl as they work their way FINALLY back into the ring where Bret chokes Shawn with a Qubecian flag. Bell has rung.

Bret in control hits Shawn with a legdrop and an atomic drop. HBK is selling his ass off for most of this match. Shawn hits Bret with his patented flying forearm and kips-up to a chorus of boos. Shawn finally back in control as he kicks Shawn right between the eyes. "Shawn is Gay" chant as the fans want blood tonight. :lol Shawn takes his turn on choking Bret with the Qubecian flag and crotch-chops a bunch of college-aged guys sitting ringside. They're flipping him off and telling him to 'bring it' and Shawn just laughs it off before he sends Shawns head into the top turnbuckle and then throws Bret out of the ring right in front of those very same fans that were taunting him. He places Bret right next to him, and punches Bret in the face, right in front of those fans, and Shawn laughs in those fans' faces. :lol He really was such a great dick-face heel. Great shit-eating grin, too. Shawn in control here as he send Bret face-first into the steel steps in a kind of suplex looking move. Shawn breaks a Canadian flagpole and hits Bret in the throat with it.

Back in the ring, Shawn hits Bret with an axe-handle from behind. Shawn grabs a front-face-lock trying to wear Bret down. Bret starts to fight back and launches Shawn half-way across the ring. Shawn regains control with a rake to the face. More 'Shawn is Gay chants. Bret and Shawn go back and forth as Shawn again rakes the face and takes control with a bodyslam and crossbody off the top, but Bret rolls through. Bret kicking Shawn in the knee repeatedly and goes for the sharpshotter around the ringpost. Fans are loving it.

Bret continues to work Shawn's knee and is doing a good job if it, thus far. Bret does a figure-four on Shawn as Shawn is in extreme pain right in the middle of the ring, but he's not giving up. Shawn reverses it, but Bret is right on the rope. Bret is up first as the fans chant his name. Working on Shawn in the corner and send him into the corner, HBK flip-spot, into side-Russian legsweep for a 2 count. Bret does his patented headbutt into the lower abdomen. Vertical suplex for a 2 count, into a back-breaker. Bret in control...again. Bret goes to the top but Shawn drags Earl into the middle of them, and Earl goes down hard. Shawn and Bret get back up, and Shawn rakes Brets' eyes and Bret goes down..

Shawn, then puts Bret into the sharpshooter, and the fans can't believe it. Earl, slowly, but surely, gets back up, and we all know what happens from here. Vince screams 'RING THE FUCKING BELL!' at timekeeper Mark Yeaton and Earl is signalling for the bell to be rung, and the bell rings without Bret giving up.


Bret goes to reverse it, which was the plan, but it's too late as the bell has rung. Bret has a look on his face, like 'what the fuck?' and spits in Vince McMahon's eye.


Shawn takes the belt and acts as if he didn't know, but he did.

Review: The shame of it is it was actually gearing up to be a really good match before it abruptly ended. We all know what came from this match. Shawn would go onto injure his back 2 months later, and drop the Title to Steve Austin at WM 14. Bret would go to WCW, get paid very handsomely, but unfortunately, WCW had no idea how to use Bret correctly. To make matters a million times worse, Owen would pass away a couple of years later at a WWF PPV coming down from the ceiling. Due to these factors, Bret wouldn't make up with WWE until years later. Bret would get inducted into the WWE HOF in 2005 and make a documentary DVD with the company, but it wasn't 100% make-up with the company.

Shawn would become born again, not only in life, but in wrestling, and come back in 2002 and have an incredible 8 year run before calling it quits and be regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time. Bret and Shawn would not make up until 2009. They remain on good terms to this day.

@Brock @Headliner @DammitC @Legit BOSS @Empress @Donnie @The Fourth Wall @Flair Flop @Nightrow @DGenerationMC @STAY CLASSY @MC 16 @TripleG @Law @Dolorian @Reversoul @Moho Hwoarang @birthday_massacre @SureUmm @CJ @Clique @THE RETURN OF THE SHIV @Youthquake @webb_dustin
Wow, you just gave us a post that we have never ever seen before. Why? Because you can :hbk1

No, seriously. That was one hell of a good read :clap :clap
 
#2,213 ·
Re: The Shawn Michaels Discussion Thread

You can do threads of retired wrestlers, too? That's pretty cool.

Here's the greatest Youtube tribute to any wrestler ever. So good I had to save it to my laptop in case WWE ever deletes it. 'Bittersweet Symphony' is one of the GOAT songs ever. Enjoy:

Re: The Shawn Michaels Discussion Thread

Finally, a thread about my favorite wrestler of all time and the GOAT himself, Shawn Michaels :mark: :mark:

I know for sure that I'll be active in this thread :hbk1
I’m so late to the party but HBK is my favorite ever as well.The 60 minute Iron man match with Bret at Mania 12 was my first big ppv and is what got me hooked on wrestling. It is the greatest technical wrestling match ever and the last 5 minutes is what made me love HBK
 
#11 ·
Re: The Shawn Michaels Discussion Thread

Finally, a thread about my favorite wrestler of all time and the GOAT himself, Shawn Michaels :mark: :mark:

I know for sure that I'll be active in this thread :hbk1
 
#125 ·
20 YEARS AGO TODAY

History: As we all know, and as I documented in my past Shawn/Taker reviews, the Shawn/Taker feud started at SummerSlam 1997 when The Undertaker defended his WWF World Championship against Bret Hart (which I went to!). Shawn was named the special referee for the match. The stipulation was that if Shawn favored the Undertaker at all, Shawn would never be allowed to wrestle in America again. If Bret lost the match, Bret would never be allowed to wrestle in America ever again. As we all know, Bret spit on Shawn, prompting Shawn to swing a chair at Bret. However, Bret ducked, and Shawn accidentally hit Undertaker in the head with the chair. Shawn was left with no choice but to count the pin for Bret, and Bret won the title. This started the Shawn/Taker feud. Shawn and Taker would wrestle to double DQ at In Your House: Ground Zero in September, which I reviewed here: http://www.wrestlingforum.com/wwe-s...shawn-michaels-fan-thread-4.html#post70155057

The very next month, they had another match at In Your House: Badd Blood. This was the debut of the iconic Hell in a Cell gimmick match; one of most popular gimmick matches in the history of the company and one that is still used to this day. Shawn and Undertaker had what many people feel is the best match in company history to this day. At the very least, it is the best Hell in a Cell match of all time, which I reviewed here: http://www.wrestlingforum.com/wwe-s...shawn-michaels-fan-thread-6.html#post70650418 ; A we all know, Kane made his debut here, attacked Undertaker, and Shawn was able to take advantage and get the win. These two wouldn't have another match until Royal Rumble 1998, which brings us to the build of this match.

It was announced on the December 15, 1997 Raw that Shawn would defend the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble 1998 in a Casket Match against the Undertaker. You can see that announcement and Taker's reaction here:



On the following week's Raw, 12/22/97, Shawn responds to the announcement of the Casket Match title defense at Royal Rumble. His response starts at 2:50:



On the 1/5/98 Raw, Shawn comes out and cuts a promo on Undertaker and calls him out. Undertaker comes out, but Shawn gets a big surprise:



On the 1/12/98 Raw, Shawn cuts a mini promo on Taker, before Owen Hart cuts him off. Shawn starts to talk at 3:32:



Later on that night in the final segment, after Shawn had earlier in the night invited Kane to join DX, they come out again to extend the invitation to him, but a certain someone else shows up (not the best quality video, but the only one I could find):



Match: Shawn starts throwing some quick rights to Taker in the corner, but his cockiness shines through as he loses focus, turns around, points to the crowd and crotch chops them. Taker capitalizes on the mistake and throws Shawn into the corner and goes for a big right, but Shawn ducks and starts to jab Taker once again in the corner. Some quick action to start us off. This seems to not faze Taker as he starts to stalk Shawn and Shawn backs off. Shawn gets a few punches off as he stands on the second turnbuckle, but Taker throws him off after a few punches. Story so far is Shawn is using his quickess and trying to go pummel Taker, but Taker is just too strong at this point in the match for him.

Shawn kicks out of a near chokeslam. Shawn gets out of a near gorilla press slam. This next exchange would change his life and the company forever. Shawn runs the ropes as Taker backs up towards the opposite side of the ring's ropes and Shawn lands on Taker's back as Taker back-body-drops him over the top rope. Shawn's back hits the corner of the casket...just barely.




But that was enough to change everything forever. While this move itself doesn't look devastating in the least, it was the the straw that broke the camel's back, as Shawn would say years later. When you've been bumping around and abusing your body for 14 years at this point, you're always just one injury away from a devastating injury that requires surgery. This injury would keep Shawn out for 4.5 years. He'd only wrestle one more match in 1998 after this one, that being WrestleMania 14. As we all know, the injury wasn't the only reason he was gone for 4.5 years, but it was a big contributor.

Action continues on the outside as Taker has the upper-hand now. Take gorilla-press slams Shawn on the outside, which has to hurt considering he just hurt his back seriously. Back in the ring, Taker hits Shawn with a big right after running the ropes and then misses a big elbow drop. Taker working Shawn's shoulder at this point and hits 'Old School' on Shawn. Taker clearly in control and hits Shawn with some big bodyshots in the corner and a big uppercut. Shawn does the Flair turnbuckle spot over the top rope. Shawn hits Taker with a 'Stunner' looking move on Taker on the top rope. Shawn comes off the top rope, Taker catches him, and lands a powerslam. Taker rolls Shawn into the casket, but can't close the door completely on him. Shawn comes out of the casket and throws some baby-powder into Taker's eyes.

Shawn now in control and is back at it with the jabs in the corner. Shawn does grab at his lower back every now and again throughout the rest of this match, it is worth noting. Shawn hits a beautiful moonsault on Taker and clotheslines him over the top. Taker drags Shawn outside and introduces him to the guardrail. Shawn regains control by reversing an irishwhip and throwing Taker into the ringsteps. He then picks up the ringsteps and hits Taker over the back with them. Shawn is wincing as he puts the steps back down. He's clearly done something to his back. Shawn then hits a beautiful piledriver on the ringsteps, which is a nice callback spot to when he did this to Taker during their Hell in a Cell match, 3 months back.



Shawn hits Taker over the back with a steel chair. By the way, all of this shit is legal in a casket match, as JR points out. A woman wearing an Undertaker shirt gets in Shawn's face and Shawn gives a crotch chop and clearly says (even though the sound has been taken out, you can clearly read his lips), "Suck it, cunt." :lol And JR points out, "Michaels is one of a kind." :lol Great stuff.

JR points out that Shawn has a great record against big guys. That he's beaten Sid and Diesel. Shawn shoves Taker into the casket


, but Taker fights out, and even lands a shot on Triple H. Shawn regains control with a spinning-neckbreaker. Shawn puts Taker in a sleeper, and Taker fights out as the crowd gets behind him and he back-suplexes Shawn to get out of it. Shawn hits his patented flying-forearm and kips-up as the fans boo. Shawn hits his patented elbow-drop off the top as Shawn is setting up to end this one. He sets up for some Sweet Chin Music, and hits it! Shawn is still wincing from that back bump earlier. Shawn gets Taker into the casket, but instead of just shutting the lid to win the match, he stands over each side of the casket and does a crotch-chop, which the crowd pops for. However, something goes awry...



And Undertaker literally grabs Shawn by the balls. Crowd pops big time! JR, of course, points out, "That's not a chokeslam, but you get the message!" :mj4 The best part about going back and watching AE matches is listening to JR's commentary and how he cleverly sneaks perverted lines in there here and there that I didn't catch back as it happened. :lol Oh, JR...

The action is back in the ring as Taker is working his come back. HUGE back-body-drop. Clothesline. Boot to the face. Taker leaps in the air, but Shawn moves out of the way, and suddenly Taker is back in the casket. Shawn goes to the top rope and just hurls himself on top of Taker in the casket!


Fans can't believe it! Both are in the casket, and the ref closes it. Shawn gets out and tries to crawl back into the ring under the ropes, but like a scene out of a horror movie, Taker has Shawn by the legs and drags him back in the casket, as the crowd pops:


The casket shuts as both guys are in the casket again! JR adding to the match once again by proclaiming that the Undertaker has 'dragged Shawn Michaels down to the depths of hell!" Both men out at the same time, as Taker hits Shawn with a big right hand that sends him out of the casket. Back in the ring, Taker hits a huge chokeslam on Shawn as Shawn gets up higher than anyone I've ever seen for a chokeslam. Taker then hits a tombstone from the ring apron INTO the casket!

Right after that Los Boricuas and the New Age Outlaws all hit the ring and start to attack Undertaker! Just as that happens, the lights go out and the fans pop! Kane makes his way out. Kane and Taker clear the ring out. However, Kane then attacks Undertaker to the surprise of the crowd, as they just has 'made up' the previous week. JR is going crazy, "NO! DAMMIT! NO! COME ON!" :lmao Fans are booing Kane as he chokeslams Taker from the ring apron into the casket. Shawn and HHH close the casket which signals the end of the match. Kane and Paul Bearer lock the casket shut with Taker inside. They then wheel the casket down the aisle and proceed to light it on fire.



Review:​
Wow. Hell of a casket match. My childhood had been filled with casket matches with about 1/10th the action that that one had. Definitely the best casket match I've ever seen. As was always the case when these two met up, they were both so smooth with one another. Not one botch and their psychology always made sense. Obviously, this is not up there with their Hell in a Cell match from 3 months earlier, nor is it up there with their WrestleMania 25 & 26 matches. But the fact that this is their fourth best match is insane. For alot of guys, this quality of a match would be their best match. The fact that these two guys had THREE matches definitively better than this one is fucking INSANE. These two are easily the WWE'S answer to Flair/Steamboat. And even 20 years later, no one in the company since, and even up to current day, has the chemistry that Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker have with one another. Fact.

This match literally changed the landscape of the WWE for the next four years. As a result of the back injury Shawn suffered in this match, and other issues, Shawn would not wrestle for another 4.5 years after WrestleMania 14. If Shawn didn't get injured, there's no way to tell what would've happened in the WWF main event scene for the next 4 years. There's also no way to tell what would have happened to Shawn from a health standpoint if he didn't get injured in this match. At the time, Shawn was on various painkillers to allow him to wrestle the rigorous WWF schedule at this time. If he hadn't gotten injured on this night, many speculated that Shawn very well could've died. In alot of ways, this injury was a blessing in disguise for both Shawn and the WWF.

I will be back in two months on March 29th to write the final review of Shawn's late 1997 - early 1998 PPV run. WrestleMania 14 would see the crowning of a new Champion and new Face of the Company that would take the company to never before seen heights. It also meant the end of Shawn Michaels as an ative wrestler for the next 4.5 years until SummerSlam 2002. See you on March 29th!

@DammitC @Brock @CJ @BTheVampireSlayer @DX-Superkick @DGenerationMC @Flair Flop @Clique @The Fourth Wall
 
#132 ·
I knew you'd deliver with this write-up. Great job. That was another great read :clap

This contest between Shawn Michaels and Undertaker is easily my favorite casket match. I still believe it's one of the most underrated matches in history. There were plenty of highlights from the main-event that I enjoyed, such as:

- Undertaker nearly scaring HBK to death when he "turned on" the lights during his entrance :lol

- HBK throwing powder into Undertaker's eyes (followed by that part where HBK toyed with Taker afterwards before getting punched in the face :lol)

- HBK clotheslining Undertaker over the top rope and then Skins the Cat, but only to get pulled underneath the ropes to the outside anyways :lol

- That spot where HBK did that Piledriver onto the steel steps :mark:

- Undertaker stopping the DX Crotch Chop by grabbing HBK's family jewels :lmao

- HBK doing the Diving Elbow from the top rope onto the Undertaker, who was inside the casket :mark:


- ^ That fucking awesome gem that got the crowd all hyped up :mark:

- Undertaker doing the jumping Tombstone Piledriver into the casket :damn

- Kane making an appearance, and clearing the ring :mark:

- Kane lighting the fucking casket ON FIRE with Undertaker inside of it :bahgawd

Looking back at this match now, it's amazing how Shawn Michaels was even able to perform so great despite the back injury. He took plenty of back bumps here while also being able to Skin the Cat, do a Moonsault, do his classic turnbuckle flip, and a Kip-Up all in the SAME match. Jim Ross certainly wasn't kidding when he said that "pound-for-pound, Shawn Michaels may be the toughest man in the WWF."

Speaking of the commentary, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were solid calling this match.

Anyways, great write-up for what almost feels like a forgotten classic match :)
 
#1,985 ·
One of the gifts I got from my wife for my birthday today: A WM 10 ringside chair that was in the building that day. And not only that, but they made 500 of them; and the one I have is the first one; "1 of 500" as you can see in the second photo! Amazing considering what this show and the Ladder Match mean to me. I was at this show, but was not sitting ringside to sit in one of these chairs. Love that it says my birthday on the chair; the date of the show; "March 20, 1994." My wife is the fucking best!:



 
#2 ·
Re: The Shawn Michaels Discussion Thread





Easily, my favorite promo of all time by my favorite wrestler of all time.
 
#177 ·
Was just going to post in here saying the HBK/Cena London Raw match took place 11 years ago tonight on Raw. Watched it earlier, what a GREAT match.

:hbk1

----------------------------

Looking forward to that DVD later in the year like no one's business.

:mark:

4/24/90: (28 years ago tonight):




4/24/91: (27 years ago tonight):



Two forgotten gem matches. I know when most folks discuss Shawn's career; they focus on his WM matches, his 2000's run, his mid to late 90's run, etc. But man, it's amazing how many forgotten gems there are in his career. Not only Rockers matches, but a few singles matches he got to have even while still part of the Rockers; like the one above, vs. Ted DiBiase. His resume of quality matches is even larger than most people realize..
 
#484 ·
17 years ago tonight:



Shawn's first match in 4.5 years, and I got to go since the match took place an hour from where I grew up. A night I'll never forget. Never thought we'd get a match of this quality when of the participants hasn't been wrestling in the past 4.5 years. Crowd was absolutely great throughout, too. And to think going into this match, this was supposed to be Shawn's last match ever; and then he wound up wrestling for another 8 years. What a ride. What a story of a career of so many ups and downs with this match being one of the many ups and highest of highs.
 
#6 ·
Re: The Shawn Michaels Discussion Thread

GOAT level wrestler and the most complete superstar of all time.

He could fly, chain wrestle, be technical or hardcore. He innovated and shined in every big match situation. Gave a lot of guys their best match. Can be heel or face. Did his best, along with Bret, to drag a dying WWF through it's worst time in the early/mid 90's.

HBK is awesome.

I wanna add to his accomplishments too. A record 11 PWI Match of the year winner with 2 records to boot. He's got the second longest MotY streak at 4 years in a row (1993-1996). The only one to beat Shawn, is Shawn. From 2004 to 2010, 7 years straight, Ole HBK did what only he can do. And that's steal the show no matter what!
 
#56 · (Edited)
Great review @ShowStopper :clap. You know I'm a big fan of stories with pictures :lol. I would next like to have a discussion about the Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels feud in 2002. I was 12, so I thought all of it was real and loved the animosity they brought. I've seen interviews where they said they made a point to make it look real, and even had some coworkers not being able to tell if it was a work or a shoot. However, when it comes up in the Classic Wrestling section, I see some complaints about match quality and the feud in general. That leaves me with these questions for you, and every other Michaels fan who wants to chime in:

1. Did you think the heat between them was a shoot?
2. Did you like how the feud played out?
3. Did you enjoy the matches?
 
#60 · (Edited)
Thanks to everyone who read this and complimented. It means alot.



They did have heat that started the night Vince bought WCW on air and Shane went to Nitro. They said on the HBK documentary that all of the wrestlers were in a lockerroom watching it take place, and as HHH said, Shawn came in (who wasn't even wrestling still at this point, but was there because they were going to use him in some capacity that night) 'pilled out of his mind and half-drooling on himself.' Word got back to Vince, and Vince told HHH to tell Shawn to leave, that he's done. So, he does, and Shawn cut a huge promo on him in front of everybody how HHH stabbed in the back and wouldn't go to bat for him when Shawn was the reason HHH became a main-eventer.

That was in March 2001 and apparently they didn't talk for a year. Then, in April 2002 when Shawn 'found God', he called HHH and had a talk with him and apologized and that's where he asked him if he would have his 'last match' with him at SummerSlam. So, I think that's where the heat ended.

As far as the feud, I loved the build to SummerSlam and the match itself, which I was at since it was only an hour away from me. Also loved the first EC match they had at MSG where Shawn won the belt. I was also that once since MSG is about 20 mins from where I grew up. At about that time, I was living at college and didn't get to watch alot of the other stuff as I took a break from wrestling.

I think the feud went alittle too long as they were still having matches in 2004. I thought the HIAC match was good, but alittle long. And their match on the last Raw of 2003(12/29/03) in San Antonio was GREAT. They teased that HBK won the title back in front of his hometown crowd, only to do a Dusty Finish. :lol

So, I thought the matches were good and just that the feud went alittle too long.
 
#57 ·
@ShowStopper


Great read.


It really shows the amount of love you have for that match, and with good reason. It's one of those rare moments when a match was damn close to perfection. It really has everything. Great psychology, brutality, novelty, emotion and an incredibly memorable finish with the debut of Kane. I think this HIAC was even better than the one with Mankind because it told a more effective story rather than merely being a fantastic car crash.
 
#59 ·
Great write up @Showstopper. Truly a pleasure to read.

For me, only Flair/Steamboat is in the same convo with Shawn/Taker when it comes to in ring chemistry. On that night those two took that amazing chemistry and put it to work in a completely new match and set a standard that has never been matched. One of the most rewatchable matches in history. I especially agree with what you said about Shawn’s bump. It’s definitely not a slouch and it set the tone for future brutality in HIAC without making the entire match about that one spot. Everything was made to make sense. All the way down to why they ended up outside the cage. One of the best blade jobs ever and without a doubt the greatest introduction all time of Kane. That feeling of the unknown seeing a man that size in that outfit walking with purpose to the ring and ripping the cage door off. Holy shit! A bloody Shawn having just enough left to make the cover was the perfect ending.

I’ve said it in here many times. My fav match varies between this one, Warrior/Savage WM7, and Flair/Steamboat WW89. Depending on my mood. Sometimes magic just happens. On this night 20years ago....magic happened.
 
#106 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'm definitely going to read this later @ShowStopper Amazing effort you put in to these posts, seriously.

I really need to go back and watch Survivor Series 1997 on the Network. It's been a long time. That ending was just crazy with Hart spitting in Vince's face, Earl Hebner getting the fuck out of there, the crowd immediately knowing what was up, Hart tracing out WCW with his fingers to the crowd and so much more.
 
#131 · (Edited)
Thanks for the kind comments. I still can't believe Shawn's back injury happened 20 years ago tonight. Previous to this PPV, and for the past 2 years before this, we had the illegal cable box that got PPVs for free. I got all of the WCW 1996-1997 and WWF 1996-1997 PPVs for free. I got to see Shawn's GOAT 1st title run on PPV (Which was fucking incredible from a PPV match aspect) for free. I got to see HBK/Mankind at Mind Games '96 for free. Ditto vs. Diesel IYH: Good Friends, Better Enemies for free. I got to see Hogan turn heel at Bash at the Beach 1996 turn heel for free. I got to see WWF and WCW which were both incredible in 1997, both companies PPV's for free in 1997. Then, in December 1997 the box stopped working.

Royal Rumble 1998 was the first PPV I had to order and pay for (or, at least my mom did :lol), and Shawn breaks his back. When I was a kid, I felt like it was partially my fault for 'stealing' all of those PPVs for free, and the first PPV I have to buy, Shawn injuring his back was karma for all of the years of 'stealing.' :lol

Karma's a cunt.

:hbkshrug
 
#162 · (Edited)
20 YEARS AGO TONIGHT




History: The first matches Shawn and Austin had against eachother was when Shawn was Champion in 1996. He and Austin had matches on house-shows, and even a Raw match in late 1996 with one another. They weren't 'feuding,' but at this time Steve was just an opponent for Shawn as Champion, as this was way before Steve was over.

They would join forces a year later in Summer 1997 as they had enemies in common, in the Hart Foundation. When Shawn came back from his knee injury on the 5/26/97 Raw, he teamed with Austin and they won the WWF World Tag Team Titles from Owen Hart and The British Bulldog in a really great match. Shawn and Steve couldn't get along, and would end up having a really good match at King of the Ring 1997 which ended in a double DQ. Unfortunately, Shawn would get suspended a couple weeks later as a result of his real life backstage fight with Bret Hart, which would end Shawn and Steve's tag title run, sadly. Their paths would not cross again until the night after Royal Rumble 1998...

Build: The build starts the night after the 1998 Royal Rumble; which saw Shawn Michaels retain the WWF World Championship in a Casket Match vs. The Undertaker. That show would also see 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin win the Royal Rumble; his second in a row. That means that Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin was set-up as the main event for WrestleMania 14 with the WWF Championship on the line.

The night after the 1998 Royal Rumble, which saw Kane light the Undertaker on fire in the casket after the match, Shawn came down from the ceiling, dressed in full Undertaker gear. Later on in that promo, he then addressed Steve Austin and his Royal Rumble win:



Two weeks later, on the 2/2/98 Raw, Shawn and Triple H would come down to the ring dressed as Uncle Sam, promoting a Tyson/Austin match at WM, which was all of the rage on the internet at this point. However, in the middle of their celebration, Austin would interrupt it, and have a great staredown/promo segment with Shawn, face to face:




Steve Austin would take on Billy Gunn in the main event, leaving a perfect opportunity for DX to attack Austin. They tie Austin in the ropes with the crowd going ballistic, with Shawn holding the title up against Austin's face, screaming in his face, that 'this is the closest you will ever get to the title!" Crowds like this don't exist anymore:





And later in that same show, Shawn and DX cut a promo on the situation and get the title back:





On the 3/16 Raw, they air a career restrospective video on HBK's career and how got to this point. It is GREAT, and a must-watch for any Shawn fan:




NOTE: Sadly, a few weeks of the build are not online anymore and were taken down by WWE on Youtube and Dailymotion. Oh well. :shrug


Shawn has, IMO, his best entrance of all time that was just chock-full of passion, anger, and attitude. At one point, you can see him mouth the words, "WHO'S THE FUCKING MAN?!" at the camera:




Match: JR correctly points out that 'No one has ever out-performed Shawn Michaels in a big match situation, and folks, it don't get bigger than this' to start us off. Shawn starts off by dodging and circling around Austin to which Austin responds with a:


or, for a more close up of it:



They go for a collar-elbow tie up twice in a row, and both times, Shawn ducks and hits Austin with a jab. Austin then chases Shawn out of the ring and back into the ring. Austin hits Shawn with a stinging ax-handle and sends Shawn face-first into two different turnbuckles. Fans are really into it as Austin back-body-drops Shawn over the top rope and out of the ring, onto Triple H. Triple H attacks Austin from behind and throws him violently into the guardrail. With this, Triple H and Chyna are thrown out of the ringside area.

Shawn regains control on the outside, before Austin runs up the ramp and attacks HHH. Shawn then clotheslines Austin and hits him with one of the drums from the DX band, right in the face. Shawn then irish-whips Austin into the dumpster as Shawn grabs Austin by the head and brings him back ringside. Worth noting, Shawn is walking very gingerly and just moving differently than he did in the past. The back injury definitely has him all out of whack here. Crowd is hot for Austin and chanting his name.


Austin regains control with a shot to the stomach and irish-whips Shawn into the corner turnbuckle. It's been said over the years that that is the spot that made Shawn's back even worse for the rest of this match. Austin hits an inverted atomic-drop for a 2 count. Austin, goes back to his roots, and hits a stun-gun on Shawn:


Austin nearly hits a Stunner, but Shawn gets out of it, and then gets punched off the apron as his head meets the announce table. Austin sends Shawn face-first into the steps and then elbows him in the neck as he lay on the apron. Back in the ring and Austin delivers some stiff elbows to Shawn's neck area. Shawn kicks out twice, and Austin slows the pace down with a headlock on the mat. Shawn gets out of it with a jaw-breaker. Shawn is wincing and moving even slower as his back is killing him. Austin regains control with some right hands on the outside, before he gets greedy and Shawn back-body-drops him over the guardrail and into the crowd, and then hits Austin with the bell right in the head.

Crowd is hot for Austin as Shawn can barely move. Shawn hits Austin with a double ax handle and climbs on top of him and hits him with some rights. He then climbs off of him slowly and holds his back and leans on the ropes and you can clearly hear him kind of whisper, as he holds his back, 'FUCK."


Fans break out into a big "HOLYFIELD" chant at Tyson, since this was very soon after Tyson had bitten part of Evander Holyfield's ear off in a boxing match. Shawn, in control here, but can barely move. He flips off the crowd but Austin takes him down and unloads on him. Austin throws Shawn over the top rope and out of the ring as the crowd erupts. Shawn regains control with snapping Austin's leg against the ringpost. Shawn looking more jacked then ever before:


Shawn leans on the steps in between snapping Austin's leg on the ringpost. He looks spent. Back in the ring, Shawn continue to work the left knee of Austin as Austin winces in pain. They actually are telling a decent story here, but the match is start and go because they keep having to rest here and there for Shawn's back, which is a shame. Austin nearly pins Shawn with a cradle, but Shawn regains control and continues to work on the left leg of Austin, using the ropes to jump on Austin's knee, as he winces in pain. Austin goes out of the ring to tighten his knee-brace and gets hit with a baseball slide by Shawn. Tyson throws Austin into the ring and accidentally gives him a wedgie in doing so. :lol Shawn chopblocks Austin Ric Flair style and then goes full Ric Flair and puts the figure-four on Austin. Shawn grabs the second rope to gain an advantage, once again, full Flair style as the crowd 'Woooo's." Austin, with all of his might, reverses the figure-four onto Shawn, but Shawn gets out of it.

Austin fights back with some rights and catapults Shawn into the top turnbuckle, for a close 2 count. Shawn then is able to put a sleeper on Steve. Austin pushes back as the ref is behind Shawn, and they bump the ref into the corner, as Steve then does this another 2 times to knock the ref out:



Austin back in control with some right hands, and sends Shawn head first into the turnbuckle. Austin stomps a mudhole into Shawn in the corner. Shawn gets back-body-dropped by Austin. Shawn hits his patented flying crossbody forearm on Steve. Shawn then hits his elbow drop. Shawn signals that it's over and leans on the ropes in the corner, and he looks almost dead due to his back:



He goes for the superkick, but then this beautiful sequence takes place:


Austin hits the stunner. Mike Tyson enters the ring and makes a 3 count for Austin! Match over. Austin wins the title for the first time ever.

After the match, Shawn asks Tyson, "WTF?" and Tyson eventually winds up knocking Shawn out:


Review: Obviously, this match was not what it could have been due to Shawn's back injury, and his whole crazy situation during this time. He was not only looking at severe back surgery, but also possibly never wrestling again. He also had severe drug issues at this time in which he was self-medicating his back pain with a ton of painkillers. The match was decent, but not great, not as good as their KOTR '97 match. Austin also had just suffered his neck injury 7 months earlier at SummerSlam 1997, and apparently Austin had a knee issue going into WM 14, as well. So, it was a messy situation.

The longterm ramifications of this match and situation are pretty far-reaching, as well. Austin would go on to carry the WWF to their most successful era of all time. Coming into WM 14, ratings were already increasing and the product was gaining steam week by week. But this show put them over the top. Kevin Nash has been quoted in a shoot interview as seeing Kevin Sullivan the next day at Nitro, and commenting to Sullivan, "Did you see that tidal-wave last night?" The WWF was on WCW's tail. They would win their first ratings battle with WCW 2 weeks after this show, on 4/13/98. From there, they would trade ratings victories back and forth until about September 1998, where Raw pretty much took full-control of the situation. Austin's 'Austin 3:16" shirt would go on to be the highest selling wrestling t-shirt of all time, as well. Austin would be forced into early retirement thanks to the neck injury he suffered at SummerSlam 1997, 5.5 years later at WrestleMania 19 in a match against his longterm rival; The Rock.

This would be Shawn Michaels last match for another 4.5 years. He would not wrestle again until SummerSlam 2002. It was a shame for him personally, as the change in product was mostly his idea, which Vince Russo himself has even admitted. Shawn's character at this time was also on a hot-streak as Vince had finally listened and took Shawn's advice in getting his character far and away from that 'Boyhood Dream' stuff. Shawn was now an entertaining heel just when he suffered a major back injury and multiple personal issues that forced him into what many thought would be his last match of all time. Shawn would wrestle 4.5 years later at SummerSlam 2002 and go on a run for the rest of that decade that many felt cemented him as the company's greatest in-ring performer.

Wrestlemania 14 goes down in history as one of the turning points in wrestling history that kind of spurred WWF ahead of WCW in popularity, or at the very least, was one of the moments in time that helped the WWF overtake WCW as the premier wrestling promotion in America.

As an aside, this past Christmas I got HBK's WM 14 kneepads as a gift from my wife. Even though this wasn't a 'great' match due to the injury and whatnot, the gear HBK wore for this match (the only time he wore it) was my favorite gear of his that he ever wore. It also was the last thing 90's HBK (my favorite version of a wrestler ever) wore in a match. Not a collector of ring-worn gear or anything like that, but this is one exception that I was happy to make. My wife has great taste and actually pays attention when I talk about something she's not a fan of, I guess. :lol :



Hope you guys enjoyed this review. Back when these fan threads were created back in September of last year, I vowed to write a review for all of HBK's PPV matches from September '97 to March '98, my favorite run of his career, which also coincided with the 20 year anniversary thing since this section and thread were created in September 2017. Now, that I finished all of HBK's 1997-1998 PPV matches on the 20 year anniversary of those matches, I'll just be doing random short reviews of his matches from random editions of Raw's over the years from time to time. Maybe next year I'll do a 10 year anniversary review of HBK/Taker's WM 25 match, which is crazy to think next year will mark the 10 year anniversary of that match. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! See you all later. :)
 
#217 ·
26 years ago tonight, a tag match between 4 GOATS. Love how you had the current in his prime all-time great heel Ric Flair teamed with the young heel hoping to follow in his footsteps, in Shawn. Same thing with their opponents. Current, all-time great babyface Randy Savage teamed with the young babyface hoping to follow in his footsteps, in Bret. I love stuff that like that.

Here are some short promos hyping the match; HBK & Flair vs. Savage & Bret:





 
#249 ·
For the record, I also enjoyed this match. I saw it over a week ago. The star power here is crazy with all 4 guys in this contest :sodone

The heel promos from Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair were pretty damn solid. They reeked of arrogance and confidence.

Randy Savage's promo was great! He was really energetic, and even got me fired up for this match :mark:

As for Bret Hart, he really impressed me with his promo. I wasn't expecting that much fire and passion from him :wow

It may have been short, but I think this was one of his better promos. I think Bret is kinda underrated in the promo department.

The match was pretty decent though. Sensational Sherri and Mr. Perfect interfering multiple times in this contest was pretty fun. Michaels and Flair did a good job taking control of this match. Savage played the babyface-in-peril role really well, and I thought Bret was a great hot tag!

My favorite part of this contest was when Savage tagged in Bret for the hot tag near the end. The match really picked up when Bret did his fiery offense on the heels. That part when he sent Michaels and Flair hanging in opposite corners was awesome :lol

All 4 of these men are fucking legends. That was a fun match :clap

Thanks for sharing these clips btw. They're always a treat to watch :hbk1

Plus, you (along with the other HBK fans on here) are doing a good job letting the memories in the past continue to live on :D
 
#310 · (Edited)
#311 ·
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