10 WWE Matches Fans Couldn’t Give A Sh*t About After Watching A Classic
"...AND?!"
"FOLLOW THAT!"
During the mid-1990s Shawn Michaels became known for spitting out those words as he confidently marched through curtains fuelled on post-match euphoria and whatever else he'd downed that day. He was ostensibly competing with the locker room - the intensely combative statement was for the benefit of just about anybody in earshot - but he knew in his heart very few of them had an inch of his talent.
He'd already labelled himself the 'Showstopper' shortly before augmenting it with a list of accolades to further propel himself beyond the chasing pack, to the point at which he was only really desperate to better his own best. He wasn't just hype, either - there were 'HBK' matches so sensational that even Michaels himself couldn't have followed them. Fortunately, his 'Main Event' tag eventually rang true, and nobody had to even try.
The cream had risen to the top, but WWE's rarely been a meritocracy and Vince McMahon hasn't held candles as tightly as the one he gripped hard for Shawn Michaels. The top performers aren't always on top, as Triple H and Randy Orton found out when they had to join Edge, John Cena and The Big Show in following the 'Boy Toy' and 'The Deadman's balls-out classic at WrestleMania 25.
'The Game' was a veteran of this sort of thing...
10. Triple H Vs Booker T (WrestleMania 19)
...and this is not - for a change - another go at Triple H for being a racist in battle before winning the war. Today's moan at 'The Game' is entirely based on his propensity for having the most boring f*cking matches at the worst f*cking time.
WrestleMania 19 remains perhaps the best bottled line-up of all of WWE's top stars. Had John Cena graduated from the pre-show to the main roster and Roman Reigns been spotted somewhere in the crowd, it would have included just about every topline performer the company has promoted since their 1980s expansion.
Paranoid at his placement amongst said icons at the best of times, Hunter delivered a display that justifed his insecurity. Unable to remotely follow his best mate's magnificent show-stealer with Chris Jericho, the World Champion's use of an Indian Deathlock came some way to expressing the trapped malaise of the capacity crowd.
He infamously took 23 seconds to cover Booker T after nailing his match-winning Pedigree. In the old days, fans would often been seen rushing to the rails to high five their favourites following a finisher. He'd at least afforded the audience an equally slow stroll.