10 Most Brutal Acts Of Wrestling Revenge
4. Only God Forgives
The 2008 rivalry between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels remains one of the best WWE ever promoted because it was so different, so old school, to the dirge to which we've become accustomed.
10 years later, WWE only tinkers with the babyface and heel divide as cynical pretext, or because they are unaware that they're doing it. In this seminal programme, both Jericho and Michaels held valid reasons for their actions. Jericho was right to question Michaels' continued popularity in the wake of his channeling his pre-2002, injury-faking self - but he took his dispute well beyond the acceptable, and into the outright despicable, by injuring Shawn's eye . Then, in a shocking moment made all the more fictionally effective for its botched reality, he punched his wife in the face.
This led to a match that promised such animosity WWE refused to sanction it. Michaels delivered this promise to a gruesome extent by smashing Jericho through a table and refusing to stop hammering in the face with a rolled-up strap.
Michaels gained his retribution, but, in a moment of chilling pathos, lost some of his restored soul in the process. The man who once refused to do jobs didn't even react to the triumphant sound of his theme music declaring victory.
They don't make 'em like that anymore.