The Greatest Match From Every WWE SummerSlam Ever

Shawn Michaels’ second act is one of the great WWE feelgood stories. HBK put together an incredible eight year run, outstripping his prior achievements and righting some of the wrongs of his troubled past. It all started with his SummerSlam comeback against friend turned rival Triple H.

The build was perfect: the former sidekick had stepped out of his mentor’s shadow during HBK’s four year downtime, and intended on proving he was the better man in a brutal unsanctioned war.

The psychology and storytelling was perfect - Michaels insisted he was fully mended, but HHH clobbered his famously damaged back throughout, picking apart his erstwhile best buddy with ruthless ferocity. As he’d do time and again, though, HBK proved his immense heart, coming back time and again, pulling out a gritty, gutsy performance and finally winning with a wily veteran’s roll up.

This was just the beginning for a revived Michaels, and he could have had no better reintroduction than this epic battle against HHH. 2002’s card is an exceptionally strong one - to top this particular show is no mean feat.