Shawn Michaels WrestleMania Matches - Ranked From Worst To Best

9. Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - WrestleMania XIV

Michaels Taker Elbow
WWE.com

More celebrity involvement at WrestleMania XIV, as Mike Tyson performed special enforcer duties in the main event between Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin. This would be HBK's last match for over four years, and would also act as something of generational-shift in professional wrestling. Austin took the win, and the Attitude Era was about to begin proper. 

The match itself is remarkable considering the state of Shawn's back at the time. He shouldn't have been performing full stop, let alone performing at such a high quality on the biggest stage of them all. Watching back it is almost as if Michaels knew he was done, and he wanted to go out on the highest of highs.

Whilst it is easy to view Austin's win as the turning point for the WWF as he would spearhead a new era, this can also be interpreted as Michaels being on top during a weak era for the company. The truth is that he helped steer a ship that had no direction, sitting on top as a credible champion whilst the company was embroiled in turmoil. 

Hs final match was another notch in the belt of Michaels' 'Mania show-stealing.

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.