12 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 2005
8. HBK’s Second Run Was A Gift
In 2005 alone, Shawn Michaels proved why everyone would’ve been robbed had he never returned for a second stint from 2002 onwards. His 8 year reprieve that ended in 2010 was masterful, and it made up for some of the frankly rotten backstage behaviour HBK had exhibited when feeling the pressure in the 1990s.
By '05, Shawn was in a giving mood.
Check these cherry picked classics out: Michaels vs. Edge (a fiery ‘Street Fight’ on 28 February), vs. Shelton Benjamin (2 May) and vs. Kurt Angle (Raw Homecoming on 3 October) alone proved to be some of the biggest highlights on Raw all year. That superkick spot with Shelton will be replayed forever, but don’t sleep on the Edge match.
Of course, HBK's overselling for Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam was petty, but Michaels had a ridiculously robust year generally. The stuff with Hogan was perhaps the only time when he fell into old bad habits, but it's be unrealistic to pin the full blame on Shawn for that. Hulk wasn't exactly innocent when it came to backstage politics!
Forget all of that for now. This entry is fully focused on the good that Shawn Michaels achieved in 2005. He deserved a golden handshake for that Shelton match alone, and it's amazing that Benjamin didn't use that as his springboard (perhaps literally) to the top of the industry. He honestly looked so, so good in there vs. Michaels.
Oh, the Kurt bout was a 30-minute 'Iron Man' match too. More on that to come.