10 Wrestlers Who Looked Better Over 40 Than In Their Prime
2. Shawn Michaels
Determining the better of Shawn Michaels' two WWE runs is tough. Both were objectively fantastic, and yielded roughly the same volume of all-time great matches. Regardless, while HBK was obviously more athletic between 1988 and 1998, he hadn't yet developed into the world-class in-ring storyteller he became in his latter years, when the mind finally caught up with the body, and he was delivering era-defining classics with shocking regularly.
Michaels turned 40 on 22 July 2005, just a few weeks after his awesome Vengeance bout with Kurt Angle. 2006 wasn't too productive, as he spent much of the year locked in the D-Generation X revival, but 2007 brought two fantastic bouts with John Cena, and the best singles contests of Mr. Kennedy's career.
In 2008, Michaels worked one of the best series of his career alongside Chris Jericho, and the following year, he delivered the first of his epic encounters with The Undertaker. Their WrestleMania XXVI rematch (Shawn's last as an active wrestler) was of a similar standard, and in defeat, Michaels accomplished the rarest of feats: going out on the back of an all time classic.
Without his second run, Michaels still amassed a HOF-worthy career, but with it, he touched 'greatest of all time' status.