One WWE Match You MUST Watch From Every Year 1984-2024
16. 2008 - Chris Jericho Vs Shawn Michaels, No Mercy
Never let it be said that WWE between 2002 and 2022 was ever earnestly and consistently great, but the wrestlers, matches and stories that ascended to increasingly rarified air during those two decades deserve praise for doing so under some of the hardest of circumstances.
Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels learned that the hard way, fighting as they did for every chapter of their epic 2008 saga to play out the way it did until - in an unusual act of pro wrestling's meritocracy creeping back into a Sports Entertainment world - the programme required the World Heavyweight Title to become part of its lore too.
The men had done everything to each other before and during Unforgiven 2008 when, after he'd been brutalised seemingly once and for all by Michaels, Jericho went on to claim the belt as a last minute main event substitute. A creative masterstroke was confirmed when the two had their grand finale in a ladder match. The modern-day Michaels had rattled Jericho enough to violently turn on him and trigger the entire series of matches, but could the olden-days 'HBK' scale the rungs one last time and make him pay the ultimate price.
No, is the short answer. But the match itself was the best long answer to the question. A grisly fusion of what made ladder matches great in the past and the sort of stunt work that would be bastardised in the future, Michaels and Jericho shared generalship of the bout, the stipulation and all the peril at play. A tug-of-war for the belt itself was one of the iconic visuals emerging from the match, which was fitting for their 2008 as a whole. It took them both pulling together for WWE to see the outstanding common goal.