9. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (Unsanctioned Street Fight) - SummerSlam 2002
After being away from WWE competition for over four years, Shawn Michaels made his triumphant return to the active roster in August 2002 for a SummerSlam showdown with his former best friend, Triple H. The build up to this match was phenomenal. The feud started when Shawn was violently beaten up by a mystery man in a parking garage during RAW. After doing some detective work, a security camera feed was examined to reveal that the culprit was Triple H. As the build for SummerSlam commenced, it seemed as though every week fans wondered just how much Shawn would be able to do in the ring after such a highly publicized career threatening back injury that had kept him sidelined for so long. Everyone was told that we probably would see a much different Shawn Michaels in the ring at this stage in the ring, that he wouldn't be able to do the same things that he did earlier on in his career. Well, those people were wrong. Despite such a long absence, Shawn came back without missing a beat. A big reason for that was the excellent talent across the ring he had to work with, someone he trusted in Triple H. This match turned out to be one of the very best of 2002. It was originally speculated that if the match went well, Shawn might be capable of having a couple of high caliber matches per year, but certainly no more than that. However, after such a successful comeback match, it was only a matter of time until Shawn was back working a full time television schedule with the WWE.
