10 Best Ever UK WWE Matches
4. John Cena Vs Shawn Michaels - Monday Night Raw (April 2007)
Inarguably one of the company's best ever TV matches and possibly the greatest WWE contest to hover around the hour mark, the exhausting war between John Cena and Shawn Michaels was an unexpectedly glorious follow-up to their solid-if-unspectacular WrestleMania 23 main event just weeks earlier.
Commencing during the middle of the London Monday Night Raw taping, the non-title match was promoted as little more than a curtain raiser for a fatal four-way including Randy Orton and Edge, but ended up a majestic sequel rather than a careful teaser trailer.
Contested with equal parts energy and psychology, the match swung repeatedly as both attempted to be a wrestling total package in their venture to best the other. Shawn had brilliantly shifted his demeanour during their programme, imbibing a harder edge that expressed intolerance for Cena's in-ring deficiencies in contrast to his own prolific skills. Conversely, 'The Champ' had been typically respectful of 'HBK' but was out to prove in character and for real that he belonged at that level.
Even in defeat, the match solidified the prevailing belief that Cena really had grown into his role as company lynchpin. Struck with an opportune Sweet Chin Music around the 56-minute mark, Cena crumbled to the canvas as his reputation simultaneously shot through the roof.