10 COUNT 10 DAY COUNTDOWN: THE YETI’S 8TH GREATEST WRESTLEMANIA MATCH OF ALL TIME
10 COUNT 10 DAY COUNTDOWN:
#8 of the10 BEST WRESTLEMANIA MATCHES OF ALL TIME
BY TOMMY COOK
The presses here at the 10 Count Blog have gotten a little rusty of late, so I (The Yeti) have decided to take some bumps and will be pulling my hair out and staying for the next ten days before Wrestlemania 34 to give the people what they want: something to read! With this years’ Grandest Stage chock full of matches to rival some of the greatest of all time, I figured I would jog everyone’s memory and take a look at the best matches of the past 33 Wrestlemanias. There were a ton of good matches to sift through, so I looked at around 20 that I knew would be shoe-ins and have narrowed it down to TEN (sorry to the rest). Also, note that Takeover matches are not included for obvious reasons. Matches are ranked based on these criteria: Critical Acclaim for both critics and fans, historical significance, the electricity of the crowd, the timing and pacing of the match, psychology, the buildup, and of course, as Finn Balor would say, the fookin’ wrestling.
Here’s a Look at the List so Far:
HM: Triple H vs. The Undertaker- 28
HM: TLC II- X7
HM: Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle- 20
HM: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns- 31
HM: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon- 10
HM: Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H- 30
10: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels- 12
9: The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan-X8
And my #8 Spot goes to…
#8. CAREER VS. STREAK
SHAWN MICHAELS VS. THE UNDERTAKER II
WRESTLEMANIA 26
As much as I love a good sequel, I enjoy a good retirement match more. Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels may have made this list if Ric had actually stayed retired, but I can’t say I fault him for that. Nonetheless, when people are discussing the greatest feuds in WWE history, this does not get mentioned enough. It is a beautiful work of art. After Mr. Wrestlemania drops an L to Mr. Undefeated, Michaels does nothing but torment himself for a year, wishing he could have another go at the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. He costs the Deadman his World Heavyweight Championship, and, in turn, the Undertaker looked to take Michael’s soul. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels II was ready and raring to go.
All of the negatives first here; it was a little clunky at the start. But other than being cold out of the gate, this had no flaws. What you had was a fight for Wrestlemania supremacy. And this was a fight. Michaels let the Undertaker have it in the early going, even driving the Phenom through a table. In the end, however, it was the Undertaker who finally put Michaels to rest, albeit, as Jerry Lawler said, “…as defiant as ever.” The last few minutes of the match and everything that followed were hard to watch. Shawn gave it his all and could still go (I think he could still go now, but I digress) but it is better to go out on top than to go out in TNA.
This was not the better of the two (hint), but it was a finality to a storyline that took the fans’ emotions everywhere. It was a payoff to over a year’s worth of struggle and hardship for one of the most beloved entertainers of all time. Watching the closing minutes of Shawn Michaels career, as odd as it seemed at the time, was almost therapeutic. You knew at the end of this match that the Shawn Michaels character was finally going to have nothing left to prove because he had just laid everything on the line and came up short. Even though he went out on his back, he was going out on top.
Even though he retired at age 44, Michaels was still in his prime. His moves were crisp and fluid, and his ring IQ and psychology were still near the top of the crop in WWE. And while nobody wanted to see Michaels go, there could have been no better way he could have done it. Excuse me while I cry now that our #8 article is over.
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