100 Greatest WWE Matches Of All Time (Ranked)
43. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (SummerSlam 2002)
The old "Unsanctioned" chestnut was wheeled into view for Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H at SummerSlam 2002, but deservedly so. After all, WWE legit didn't know what they'd be getting here, and so they moved to protect HBK's aura as much as possible by giving these real-life pals carte blanche to do whatever they needed to do in order to make Shawn's comeback a success.
Good news: It was one. Michaels looked like he hadn't missed a step despite spending almost four years on the bench following a serious, seemingly career-ending back injury in 1998. Anyone lured back by the tantalising thought of this 'Sexy Boy' battling his old D-Generation X cohort must've been checking their calendars to make sure this was happening in 2002.
How could Shawn move this well, and why did he have practically zero ring rust? Was Hunter just that good? Did the 'Street Fight' gimmick really help that much? The answer to those latter two questions might well be yes, but this is Shawn Michaels we're talking about - he prepped like few had ever prepped before for this return bout, and it turned out to be an emotional rollercoaster well worth checking out.
Michaels getting the crowd-popping win over Trips only for ‘The Game’ to viciously cut him down with a couple of thudding sledgehammer shots (which led to a stretcher job for HBK) only added to the spectacle these two put on. It was truly remarkable that Shawn was so slick when he'd barely wrestled a lick since losing the WWF Title to Steve Austin way back at WrestleMania XIV.