Every WWE Gimmick Match And The Wrestlers That Defined Them
3. Ladder Match - Shawn Michaels
The ladder symbolised Shawn Michaels' ascension to the main event - once a truly effective visual, the WWF repeated the trick with emerging stars The Rock and Triple H at SummerSlam 1998 - and in his genius hands, the actual apparatus was an extension of himself. He used it, at WrestleMania X, as a way to deflect Razor Ramon's superior strength and as a platform to risk it all throughout its stunningly creative debut proper. Everything had purpose within the context of a fight; the spectacle was incidental to it, and not something tacked on as a shortcut to the pop.
In the years since, the Ladder match, still a superb gimmick, lacked something of Shawn's artistry - until No Mercy 2008, at which he and Chris Jericho used it as a symbol of pure, grinding hatred in their deeply personal and incredibly performed grudge match.
Others have soared, literally, in this enduring classic - but Shawn's work remains unforgettable, iconic, because his genius was more than momentary.