20 Incredible WWE Ruthless Aggression Era Moments Nobody Ever Talks About
13. This Incredible Shawn Michaels Facial
Shawn Michaels played heel against Hulk Hogan in their incredible 2005 series, and, driven with pure defiance, he hammed it up in a bid to embarrass his rival for Hogan's sheer temerity throughout the creative process.
It was magic. Michaels wasn't merely being his old, brash self: he channelled the cut-throat shark of old, the guy who'd commit character assassinations just to get to the top. He made Hogan look like a cringeworthy relic, a megalomaniac covered in wrinkly oil he called skin. It was fascinating, cathartic, and Michaels was simply so awesome in the 2000s that he made the parody of wrestling that was the SummerSlam main event feel real.
In a slightly less famous throwback to the old Shawn, Michaels executed the greatest fake-out in pro wrestling history when playing - since he had no choice - situational heel in Montreal. Less famous than his parody of Hogan, but far more scathing, it's just as well Shawn was so brilliant at playing babyface: great as he was as the pr*ck of 1997, fans were content to take it as a one-off treat.
When Bret Hart's music started playing, the place went absolutely banana. Michaels was priceless on the sell. He looked absolutely dumbfounded. He'd seen a ghost, and it wasn't a deer he'd blasted to kingdom come returning to haunt him: it was Bret.
Except it wasn't, and he pissed himself laughing.
- MS