Shawn Michaels WrestleMania Matches - Ranked From Worst To Best

8. Vs. John Cena - WrestleMania 23

Michaels Taker Elbow
WWE.com

The main event of WrestleMania 23, John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels is something of an underrated classic. There wasn't much of a story going into the match, but these two had a chemistry that simply could not be denied. They would go on to better this match in the UK just a few weeks later, too.

The early stages were all power vs. speed, with neither performer getting a clear advantage. Too many wrestling matches descend into a predictable flow and structure, so such an equal match was as refreshing then as it would be now. This isn't to say there are no shenanigans, however, and once Mike Chioda went down all bets were off.

Michaels hits Cena with a freakin' piledriver on the steps, a move that is guaranteed to illicit 'ooohs' and 'aaaahs' from any crowd, not to mention exclamations of shock in that most wrestling crowd of manners. Michaels eventually tapped out to the STFU and, whilst you can pick the odd hole in it, this was a fantastic match overall.  

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.