10 Best WWE Matches Ever (According To The Internet)
5. Shawn Michaels Vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania 25)
An innovation within WWE even if it was borrowing from tropes and tricks that had typically been considered excessive by those in the bubble, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker leaning on post-kick out shock and finisher spam elevated the form before it became normalised within the system.
It's easy to understand exactly why Michaels coaches and drills this sh*t into the NXT trainees so much - reactions like the ones 'The Heartbreak Kid' and 'The Deadman' received for their herculean all-star clash at WrestleMania 25 were the sort of dragons to chase forever. What he seemingly fails to realise is that they just may not have been there on such a grand stage if two company icons weren't either. That 'Taker's streak was still in play enhanced every tease too, especially when their instincts kicked in - the very best moment of the match was not one of their many reversal exchanges but Michaels desperately shooting for a count-out win after a near-disastrous missed dive by his opponent.
The magic in this - especially on rewatch when its obvious influences and the the many things it obviously influenced are both widely available - is in seeing a stadium have their minds blown by the old pros subverting their expectations. Michaels' retirement is more heartfelt the following year, and their Hell In A Cell match over a decade earlier had the sense of danger and violence this didn't need.
Long before wrestling ate itself with this sort of melodrama, two master craftsmen shot for the cinematic and somehow pulled it off.