WWE: 10 Awesome Matches That Showcased Great Ring Psychology

1. Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho - Unforgiven (2008)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X1qyOhEhuw This rivalry blew everything else out the water in 2008. Hell, it's head and shoulders above almost everything the WWE had produced ever. If every match in their series could be on this list, it would be. But we only have ten spaces open, so instead here's a brief recap of how we got to this match. Actually hold on, before you keep reading. Do you really want my to spoil this for you? As a wrestling fan don't you owe it to yourself to check out this epic feud? It's fine, I'll wait... For those of you who already saw these two go at it for the better half of a year, or just plain can't be bothered: Shawn Michaels ended Ric Flair's career in a classic contest at Wrestlemania 24. Batista wasn't too happy about that and the two battled at Backlash, where Michaels won by faking a knee injury before hitting Sweet Chin Music. Jericho called him on his lie and the two fought at Judgement Day, which Michaels also won. Jericho had convinced Batista that Michaels had lied to beat him, which angered the Animal something rotten. The two fought at One Night Stand, where Batista gained his revenge, but not before uttering the immortal line "I'm not sorry and I don't love you". Awesome. That's the first part of this rivalry done with, still following? Good. Jericho invited Michaels onto his highlight reel. What started off as a chat between friends quickly turned ugly as Chris transformed in front of our very eyes from mild-mannered face to vicious, self righteous heel, smashing Shawn's face into the titantron for lying to him. The brilliance of this was not only the organic way this turn evolved, but also that the heel had a point: Michaels did lie. Yet the crowd cheered him, thus creating Jericho's awesome 'honest man' heel persona. This left Michaels with a kayfabe eye injury. When the two faced off at The Great American Bash, Jericho relentlessly targeted the eye until the referee stopped the match. Shawn wouldn't be seen again until Summerslam, where he came out to announce his retirement. He was interrupted by Jericho who came out to gloat about ending The Heartbreak Kid's famed career, and sent an elbow his way. Shawn ducked and Jericho hit his wife in the face, knocking her to the ground. He showed no remorse whatsoever as he left the ring. This left Shawn with no choice but to come out of retirement and defend his wife's honour in an unsanctioned match. Which is exactly the same as a street fight except jeans are optional. That was quite a lot of background, but as important as the psychology within the match is the psychology surrounding it. So we come to Unforgiven. Shawn walks out to no pyro and a cold look in his eyes. It's clear that we are not seeing the happy go lucky Heartbreak Kid of old. The commentators drill home the fact that Michaels is a religious man, but tonight he will need to become evil to get revenge on the man who battered his wife. To be honest, they go a little overboard as things go on, saying phrases like "crusade" and "passion". Given a little longer and Cole would have probably gone the whole hog and called him the second coming. Still, it's a great angle. Jokes about the 'non-sanctioned' stipulation aside, having Jericho come in tights while Shawn arrives in street clothes is a wonderful little detail showing the mindset of each man: Chris is not prepared for the violent brawl that awaits him. The action is like a modern equivalent of our previously mentioned I Quit match, both men throw aside their usual wrestling finesse to go for an all out brawl: Michaels more enthusiastically than Jericho, who takes a little while to adjust to having a straight up fight. Once again, there's a consistency in the storytelling here that's rare for any feud, past or present. When Jericho manages to get an advantage, he targets the eye and arm of Michaels, taking advantage of his emotions to try and survive the initial flurry of offence. Shawn is at his best here, selling the arm with one armed chair shots and acting like a man possessed. After attacking Chris with a fire extinguisher, he starts to go for the eye: getting revenge for both the attack on his wife and his mauling at the hands of Jericho at The Great American Bash. Just like the bash, no mercy is shown here. Even after Jericho is out, the Heartbreak Kid will not relent, tanning his lifeless body with his belt before putting him in an MMA crucifix and pounding his eye with a wrapped up fist. The referee, who is begging Shawn to stop at this point, finally calls it at 26.57. Even the post match is fantastic, with Shawn still going for Chris before attacking a referee, teary eyed and paralyzed with anger and confusion. He'd won, but had sold a part of his soul for his revenge. On another level to all but the very best matches ever produced.