Every WWE Wrestler Of The Year For The 2000s
5. 2005 - Shawn Michaels
Key matches: Vs. Edge (Raw Street Right), Kurt Angle (WrestleMania 21, Vengeance & Raw Iron Man), Shelton Benjamin (Gold Rush Tournament), Hulk Hogan (SummerSlam)
The early 2000s renaissance of Shawn Michaels was really quite something to witness unfold. Returning at SummerSlam 2002 after over four years on the bench with a serious, thought to be career-ending back injury, 'ol HBK looked as though he hadn't lost so much as half a step as he contested a classic street fight with Triple H.
After impressing everyone and coming out pretty much unscathed, WWE went full-on with the Michaels nostalgia tour, having him win the World Heavyweight Title at Survivor Series before he eased back into a full-time schedule. He had good years in 2003 and '04 but he never quite established himself as the best in the company. 2005 changed that.
He began the year by returning from knee surgery and heating up his feud with Edge, resulting in a tidy Royal Rumble opener and a brutal street fight on the February 28th episode of Raw. When he wasn't going to war with Rated-R he was trading shots with Smackdown's Kurt Angle, as their inter-brand dream match was set for WrestleMania 21.
That highly-anticipated bout was, in the opinion of many, WWE's best match of the year. They managed to do themselves justice with the sequel months later at Vengeance, having another barnburner with the result reversed (Michaels won this one). It was around this time that Michaels ran into Hulk Hogan...
The Hulkster was back and the nostalgia-fuelled tour was in full swing. The Gawker-beater teamed with The Showstopper to down Muhammad Hassan and Daivari at Backlash, before their partnership turned to angst. Michaels momentarily turned heel after decking the orange one with Sweet Chin Music (on the Fourth of July edition of Raw, no less).
Michaels was on rare form over the summer as he sent up Hogan, with whom he had something approaching a legitimate backstage beef (they were supposed to trade wins but Hogan suspiciously pulled out of the rematch). The 'Larry King' segment, in particular, was masterful, but Michaels quickly traded his black hat for a white one after putting Hogan over at SummerSlam in a memorable match.
With the Hogan episode behind him, Michaels went back to working with the young guys like John Cena and Chris Masters (who he carried to one of The Masterpiece's best matches at Unforgiven). He finished off the year by having good matches with Rey Mysterio (at the Eddie Guerrero tribute Raw) and putting in a solid shift in the Survivor Series ten-man main event.