10 Amazing Wrestling Callbacks You Totally Missed
6. Shawn Michaels Was As Good As They Said He Was
Known for a very long time as an undisputed North American great, Shawn Michaels has taken something of a critical battering in recent years.
He's not entirely blameless here. Coming out of retirement to take blood money obviously did him no favours. But the resentment is almost indirect. His "Sorry, I love you" and Shocked Kick-Out Faces are, when done to excess, a plague on the modern scene. His influence has allowed, with no hyperbole, hundreds of inferior wrestlers to take his shortcuts and eat themselves with melodrama.
He produced more than half of those matches, yes, but he was a genius of a pro wrestler. He was, before becoming enamoured with broad melodrama, as understated as anybody.
He was the special guest referee for the Rock Vs. Triple H Iron Man at Judgment Day 2000. In the build, the Rock brought up a long-forgotten angle in which Shawn Michaels hit him with the Sweet Chin Music on the SmackDown premiere. Michaels owing to his various problems was a fitful presence in a very fitful time - but Rock remembered and told Shawn not to screw him.
As did the most hawk-eyed WWF fans, whom Michaels rewarded. With under two minutes left, the match tied 5-5, the Rock motioned to hit the People's Elbow. Watch Michaels carefully: for a split-second, his footwork suggests that he is about to cut him off with the Sweet Chin Music. He doesn't, but he puts your heart in your mouth before you can even register it.
For a man who spent ages staring at his hands, this was blink-and-you'll-miss-it brilliance from HBK.