Shawn Michaels' 10 Best Matches Ever

Just as long as the list of acclaimed performances from "The Heartbreak Kid" is the number of individuals who have been irked or annoyed by Michaels' behavior in the icon's younger days. A lesser-gifted man might've been thrown out to the curb for being such a perpetual headache. Fortunately, Michaels was able to turn his life around, becoming a model citizen in his second go-around as an active wrestler. And to the delight of fans, the quality of his performances had not diminished over the passage of time.

In the eight years since Michaels' final match, there have been wrestlers that have reminded us of HBK, whether it's Seth Rollins' or AJ Styles' show-stealing athleticism, or Dolph Ziggler's propensity for exaggerated bumps. Time has shown, however, that Michaels was in a league all his own, cultivating the perfect blend of athletics, salesmanship, presence, and timing, boiling those elements in such a way that its consistency could not be duplicated by others.

The following list consists of matches that one would say are Michaels' ten greatest ever. It's entirely possible to come up with a similar list with eight of these matches swapped out for others. Shawn Michaels has had plenty of show-stealing matches, which is what makes these lists difficult - he was on a lot of shows.

Here are, in one man's opinion, the ten greatest matches featuring Shawn Michaels.

In an interview years later, Michaels made the match sound really simple: he and Cena had worked with each other enough by this point to where everything they did came together easily enough. The fact that he and Cena enthralled the fans in London for close to one hour makes his modest assertion all the more perplexing.

Cena celebrated his thirtieth birthday by working with Michaels in what is arguably the greatest match of his own career, perhaps the modern equivalent of Ric Flair and Sting at the inaugural Clash of the Champions in 1988. The difference is this one ended with a clear-cut victor, as Michaels took Cena down with Sweet Chin Music close to the 56 minute mark.

Michaels also credited the London crowd for instilling their boundless enthusiasm into the match, which only energizes the wrestlers therein. Had the match taken place in any US city outside of Chicago or New York, maybe it's not quite the same. So on behalf of everyone who loved the match, thank you chaps.