10 WWE Classics That Never Should Have Worked

One and done, so he - and we, all thought. And yet, was SummerSlam 2002's Triple H/Shawn Michaels epic somehow actually the greatest outlier in WWE history?

Triple H was midway through one of his worst career years - the year that kicked off his reign of terror and reduced 'The Game' moniker to that of rank parody rather than in-ring dominance. Shawn Michaels hadn't ran WWE ropes in four years and genuinely believed he only had this one match in him; all the while gambling on a surgically repaired back whilst wrestling for the benefit of his young son rather than himself.

In the years that followed, the pair assembled snoozers capable of completely tanking pay-per-views. "Three Stages Of Hell" was a rather literal interpretation of their overly-gimmicked headliner later that year, whilst a the burning fires of Hell itself felt as though they were surrounding their torturously self-indulgent 2004 Cell clash.

This - unlike almost anything else they accomplished against one another - was magic.

Teasing panicked audience with a targeted assault on Shawn's back, every punch and kick from Triple H to any area even close to it felt like a bullet shot directly into his spine. 'HBK' dusted off the fire and fury of old, white meat and blood red in his babyface sensibilities, timing every comeback rather fittingly as if his life depended on it.