10 Best Ever Shawn Michaels Matches

Cut down from a shortlist of 200 matches.

shawn michaels wrestlemania 12
WWE.com

Many have their own theories on just who deserves the mantle of the greatest professional wrestler of all-time, but here's something we can probably all agree on: there has never been anyone more versatile than Shawn Michaels.

If the circumstances demanded a classic catch-as-catch-can style (whatever that actually means), HBK was your man. If they demanded break-neck speed high-flying, again, HBK was your man. And if they demanded barbaric and bloody brutality, you guessed it: HBK was your man (especially if you wanted a convincing looking blade job).

Whatever the occasion, HBK was your man - he was the man - and that was why WWE continually asked him to deliver the match of the night. From the age of 25, right through to his WrestleMania XXVI curtain call twenty years later, Shawn Michaels just kept on tearing the house down.

You could quite easily compile a list of the top 50 or 100 HBK matches, such was the consistency of his performances throughout his two tenures with WWE - but we've kept it short and sweet. Here are his best ten.

10. Vs. John Cena (Raw, 2007)

shawn michaels wrestlemania 12
WWE.com

The sequel is never as good as the original, so they say - but who are they, exactly? And have they ever seen Shawn Michaels' match with John Cena from a special London episode of Monday Night Raw in April 2007 - a month after their WrestleMania 23 showdown?

This was better than the first encounter for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the time constraints were far less rigid, meaning the pair could go for pretty much a full hour, interrupted only by the occasional commercial break. Second, the WWE Championship wasn't on the line, and the outcome was therefore much less predictable (HBK only wore the world title once - for a month - during the entirety of his second run).

It was proof both of the fact that Cena was a much better worker than everybody thought, and that Michaels - well into his 40s by now - could still reach the lofty standards he had set himself.

Contributor