50 Greatest WWE Raw Moments Ever
36. Shawn Michaels' Best Ever Superkick (May 2nd, 2005)
Or should that be Shelton Benjamin's best ever spot?
Possibly not, actually. Benjamin was a prodigy during the early days of Team Angle/The World's Greatest Tag Team, and gun-to-head, most fans would probably choose him racing up the rungs of a ladder during the inaugural Money In The Bank match at WrestleMania 21. That was a classic case of saving a big spot for a big stage, but it speaks to WWE's effective promotional machine that this Raw defeat from a similar time period is remembered with even more fondness.
A springboard into a superkick is the preserve of weekly television decades on from the original, but only in select independent companies was it likely you'd see a spot as pulsating at the time. Add to it that one of the people involved was an unadvertised Shawn Michaels entering a World Championship tournament, and that it's wrapped in the unpleasant aesthetic of wilderness years Monday Night Raw, and the moment frankly becomes all the more remarkable.
Even WWE at its most disposable knew they couldn't throw this one away. The spot almost immediately became the crown jewel of the opening credits, and it's a cast-iron guarantee even now that anytime Benjamin's in the news, somebody will celebrate the fact by reliving him getting booted out of the sky.