10 Sweetest Examples Of WWE Payback
9. What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted
“For it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” - Romans 12:19
Facing off against Batista at Backlash in 2008, Shawn Michaels faked a knee injury for a distraction victory. That match's special guest referee was a babyface Chris Jericho, who was furious at being complicit in Michaels’ cheating, and was superkicked over the argument. A match was made between the two for Judgement Day, at which Michaels beat his younger opponent.
However, the issue still bothered Jericho: the Heartbreak Kid had cheated, yet the fans loved him. Meanwhile, Jericho had uncovered the deception, but been booed over it. He confronted his hero again, and overwhelmed by jealousy and anger, assaulted Michaels, smashing his face through a monitor screen and turning heel.
In a further match six weeks later at the Great American Bash, Jericho targeted HBK’s (kayfabe) injured eye, causing the referee to stop the match.
When Michaels appeared at SummerSlam that year and attempted to announce his retirement from wrestling, Jericho confronted him once more, and matters escalated to the point that Jericho accidentally potatoed Michaels’ wife, taking the story to the next level.
Changing his mind about retirement, Michaels challenged Jericho to an Unsanctioned match at Unforgiven in September. Really only a new spin on the usual pre-PG no-DQ street fight, the match would supposedly absolve the participants and the company of any legal consequences from the violence to follow.
During the match itself, tables, ladders, chairs and other miscellaneous international objects came into play, as well as interference from Jericho’s sidekick Lance Cade. It wasn’t enough to stop a vengeful Shawn Michaels: he took both men out with a flying elbow, straight through a table.
Back in the ring, Michaels pinned Jericho’s arms while he was barely conscious, wrapping his fist in his own belt to punch him again, and again and again. And again. In a callback to the Great American Bash, the referee stopped the (damn) match, giving HBK the win. That didn’t stop the richly deserved beating: if anything, the post-match was even more brutal. Beside himself, Michaels even superkicked the referee when he tried to intervene.