He may be Mr. WrestleMania, but the Heartbreak Kid is not quite Mr. SummerSlam. Nonetheless, his career at the biggest show of the summer is amongst the most storied in company history. Looking back at his record, you can literally map Shawn Michaels meteoric rise through the ranks in the WWE. His first few SummerSlam appearances were spent in tag matches alongside Marty Jannety or in mid-card feuds against the likes of Rick Martel. In 1993 though, he burst onto the Intercontinental scene, beating Mr. Perfect by countout before putting on what is widely regarded as one of the most ground-breaking ladder matches of all time with Razor Ramon in 1995. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC6jPR4OyUw Further success followed the next year when HBK beat Vader for the WWE Championship, and in 1997 he found himself acting as guest referee in Bret Harts victory over the Undertaker. That was all part of the Survivor Series build for that year, and we all know what happened there... On top of all that, he still came back for more. His epic unsanctioned match with Triple H in 2002 proved that he still had what it takes, while his defeat to Hogan in 2005 is still one of the most entertaining matches that Ive ever seen (though perhaps for unconventional reasons). Its quite the list of accomplishments, and most importantly a list that was put together with a series of show-stealing performances. For that reason Michaels is placed above all others bar one familiar face...
