50 Greatest WWE Raw Moments Ever
22. Shawn Michaels Collapses (November 20th, 1995)
24 hours removed from making his return to the company following a very real nightclub kicking, Shawn Michaels was back in the ring on Monday Night Raw. His headline bout against Owen Hart seemingly existed to kick off his Royal Rumble (and ultimately WrestleMania) build, and did exactly that in the end. It just so happened that the surprising approach shocked the entire wrestling world.
After the typical - and typically brilliant - high-intensity contest between the pair, Michaels started subtly (for him) selling minor head issues after repeated shots to his head, neck and face. He'd taken a share of blows at the pay-per-view too, and that had felt like a story beat isolated to the Survior Series match until it reappeared here. He eventually fires back from suffering a brutal enzuigiri, mounting the comeback as he often would with a clothesline to the floor followed by skinning the cat back inside. Rumble season was here, after all. But just seconds later, everything about his future was thrown into terrifying doubt.
As the crowd were still popping for his babyface magnetism, Michaels clutched his head and hit the deck. It brings the commentary to a stop, a ringside fan front row removes the camera from their face and looks on in shock, and everybody else gradually comes around to the idea that the human being in the ring could be in real trouble. As Owen, Jim Cornette and Mr Fuji leave the scene, the sight of a downed Michaels in all we're left with for the remaining four minutes of the broadcast. It's quiet, it's tense, it's real-feeling, and it's what nothing of neon-90s WWE was known for. Vince McMahon drops the headset to enter the ring, as the show fades to commercial. When it returns, the ring is filled with medical professionals and officials, and the only sounds to be heard are from speculating fans and the mumblings of McMahon and the medics in the ring. One final commercial break brings viewers back to the sights of fans in tears and Michaels having an oxygen mask applied as doctors do at least confirm he's conscious before the show ominously goes off the air.
Unflinching when watched in the present day, it's outright remarkable that it played out the way it did back then.