Every WWE Five Star Match Ranked From Worst To Best
3. The Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels - In Your House: Badd Blood
The opening third of this match was an utter annihilation. It's no coincidence that WWE nicknamed the Hell In A Cell structure "the Devil's Playground"; Undertaker never portrayed himself with sd much horrifying gravitas as he did systemically dissecting Shawn Michaels in what was a brutal and wildly different genre of pro wrestling match. Much like 'Taker toyed with Michaels, the match itself toyed with established babyface/heel dynamics. You felt a degree of sympathy even for the despicable, bratty Heartbreak Kid, trapped and fated to vainly struggle against a dark force he was foolish enough to summon.
The horror is relentless. Michaels, completely at the mercy of 'Taker, is at the mercy of the malicious structure also, his feet touching its roof after a back body drop, unintentionally putting it over as a thing of expansive, unyielding evil.
But, in the match's ingenious twist, yield it does. Escaping via hapless cameraman, Michaels is sucked back into its bewitching horror, like the monster under the bed, by 'Taker's slingshot. He then, in a shocking moment that changed the very industry as much his ladder leap had three years prior, crashed from its walls through to the commentary desk below.
This followed a suspense-filled sequence atop the roof, adding a tone of terror to a match that perfected two unique genres of pro wrestling.