10 Most Vicious WWE Grudge Matches Ever
7. Shawn Michaels Vs. Chris Jericho - Unforgiven 2008
Facing off against Batista at Backlash in 2008, Shawn Michaels faked a knee injury to get the distraction and the win. Confronting him about it, that match's special guest referee Jericho was furious, and was superkicked for his trouble: a match was made for Judgement Day, which Michaels won, seemingly putting the issue to bed.
And yet it festered in Jericho. The Heartbreak Kid had cheated to win, yet the fans loved him: Jericho had pointed out how messed up that was, yet he'd been booed for it. Confronting Michaels again, Jericho's jealousy and anger overwhelmed him, and he assaulted his hero, turning heel as he smashed HBK's face into a television screen, kayfabe detaching his retina.
Six weeks or so later, the pair faced off at The Great American Bash, a match which the referee was forced to call a halt to after Jericho continued to target the injured eye. At SummerSlam, Michaels came to the ring with his wife Rebecca and announced his retirement from wrestling. That was when Jericho came to the ring to insist that Michaels admit that he was only retiring because of what he, Jericho, had done to him.
Matters became heated again, and in the confusion Jericho accidentally punched Rebecca in the face. The stiff shot to Michaels' wife wasn't planned... but it took the feud to the next level.
Jericho claimed that Michaels and his wife had had it coming: Michaels performed an about face on retirement to challenge Jericho to an 'unsanctioned' match at Unforgiven a few weeks later.
'Unsanctioned' was just a new spin on the traditional weapons-filled no-disqualification street fight, with a kayfabed contract that supposedly absolved all participants of any legal consequences of the violence that would follow. Tables, chairs and fire-extinguishers came into play, as well as interference from Jericho's protégé Lance Cade: Michaels would drop a flying elbow on both men at once, putting them through a table.
Back in the ring, Michaels pulverised Jericho, pinning his arms while he was barely conscious and punching him over and over again in the eye with his fist wrapped in his belt. The referee stopped the match, just as had happened at the Great American Bash, this time awarding Michaels the win. The Heartbreak Kid continued the beatdown, even superkicking the referee when he tried to stop him.
Michaels left the ring looking deeply troubled at what he'd done to his nemesis, selling the angle even in victory.