The Complete A-Z Of The Undertaker

8. S - Shawn Michaels

The Undertaker
WWE.com

It's one thing to contest one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the industry. It's another to have one of the all-time great matches as part of the feud. It's fantastic to do both. It's almost impossible to do it twice.

The 1997-98 and 2009-2010 conflicts between 'The Deadman' and 'The Heartbreak Kid' are wars for the ages.

Triggering Michaels' heel turn in late-1997 after a thunderous chair shot from guest referee Shawn cost Undertaker the WWE Title at Summerslam that year, the two engaged in a brutal and bloody war of attrition. Undertaker tried and failed to rip the future DX leader limb from limb in their first contest, but just about succeeded in the historic first ever Hell in a Cell match at October's Badd Blood.

Over ten years later, a confident Michaels thought he could break the WrestleMania streak. Two failures lead to ultimately to his retirement, though not before the pair contested two of the greatest matches ever held at the 'Showcase of the Immortals'.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett