10 Classic WWE Matches (That Nobody Remembers As Classics)
7. Shawn Michaels Vs. Jeff Jarrett - In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks
And Fatal 4-Way was apparently an insipid match around which to build a PPV. Luckily, an in-ring midcard uprising was as much the hallmark of the New Generation Era as pants gimmicks and lumbering, tedious main events.
And Jeff Jarrett was apparently an insipid talent between the ropes - eminently loathsome with the stick, but bang average in the ring. His Intercontinental Title loss to Shawn Michaels here proved that he was capable of assembling a classic, provided the right opponent was stood in the opposite corner. Michaels in 1995 was that.
The opening sequence was a choice exhibition of athleticism performed by two mullet-feathered peacocks who knew precisely how good they were. Michaels, as the face, got the better of the showoff exchange with a backflip wristlock reversal and a poke to the eye. Jarrett, aware of Michaels' superiority, stalled for time with three infuriating count out teases. He then relied on his Roadie sidekick to snatch the advantage at every turn, drawing the ire of the crowd.
Michaels lifted that crowd by flattening both men with a stunning cross body block, shortly after which he asked that crowd, with supreme selling, to lift him, after taking a suicidal over the top rope back body drop bump. This was vintage, pre-back injury Michaels. The stuff he did in there defied belief at times, particularly when he adjusted a turning cross body block into a sunset flip at the last second in the final frantic third.
Michaels was a divisive babyface, but an expert storyteller even before his World title singles push. He outwitted the Roadie into costing Jarrett the match before planting Jarrett with Sweet Chin Music, capping everything off with a brilliant, cathartic twist.