50 Ups & 50 Downs For WWE's Decade: The 2010s

25. End Of An Era

End of an Era WrestleMania XXVII The Undertaker Triple H Shawn Michaels
WWE

The culmination of a four year story, Triple H and The Undertaker's WrestleMania XXVIII Hell In A Cell battle was fittingly subtitled as the above, as 'The Game' alongside guest referee Shawn Michaels put to bed their attempts to conquer The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak.

Shawn's matches with 'The Deadman' the prior two years were never going to be topped by Triple H (or anybody, really), but Hunter's gallant effort against The Undertaker at the 27th edition of the show drew praise for finding more new ways to convince audiences that he could actually lose.

With the Cell acting more as a gruesome background rather than a playground for the two icons, Triple H mercilessly decimated his opponent with a steel chair as referee Michaels mostly just begged for things to be over. In response, 'Taker had to trap Shawn in the move just to stop him calling the whole thing off. A Superkick/Pedigree combo triggered one of the most dramatic nearfalls this decade, with his kick out drawing apoplectic reactions from the audience and combatants alike. Undertaker ultimately recovered to hit Hunter with his own sledgehammer and a match-winning Tombstone before all three left the ring together, such was the significance of the bout.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett