8 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 24
5. Love And Other Drugs
A storyline finale playing out to sheer and total perfection, the Shawn Michaels/Ric Flair superclash bid fond farewell to 'The Nature Boy' and made beautiful use of his inability to be the man he once was.
There's a small botch during a pinfall escape that - thanks to the heft both men were capable of inserting into the match - thoroughly enhances the encounter and the story of Flair's tearful goodbye. Ever artful, 'HBK' applies elegance with his every move, including the iconic "I'm Sorry, I Love You" conclusion that should have formed every retrospective on him as well that of his fallen friend and foe.
Weaving reality and fiction as few others could, Michaels was of course the right man for this task, as Flair was for his final WWE job. He wept before he hit the deck from the final superkick, but these weren't the usual tears of the bombastic clown. 'Slick Ric' had, one last time, reminded everybody exactly why Orlando's oldest ride still had the longest line.