WWE: 5 Best SummerSlam Gimmick Matches Of All Time

1. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H - Unsanctioned Street Fight (2002)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG4KF8AigkU And so here we are. The greatest SummerSlam gimmick match of all time, and yep it€™s another Shawn Michaels match. In fairness to Triple H this is his second appearance on the list, but everyone knows it was Michae€™s' efforts that made this match top the list. Part of what makes this match so special in fact was Michaels' effort, as no one had any expectations of his performance in the match. Shawn had been forced into early retirement following his loss to Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XIV as he had gained a serious back injury in a casket match against The Undertaker at the 1998 Royal Rumble. It was quite a miracle that Michaels was even able to get through his match with Austin, but after that and the following surgeries it was clear that Michaels was done in the ring. Of course history has shown us that was complete twaddle and Michaels would come back and wrestle for nearly another decade and have a long list of matches which could easily be called match of their respective year against the likes of The Undertaker, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. The first of these matches though, happened at SummerSlam 2002. Labelled as an €˜Unsanctioned Street fight€™ the match was a no holds barred match to allow former best friends Triple H and HBK to settle their nasty grudge without limitations of rules. Truth was, the unsanctioned street fight element of the match was probably put in place to allow Michaels to use some weapons to cover his lack of ability since returning from retirement. As it turned out this wasn€™t a necessary factor, and Michaels hadn€™t really missed a step in his absence. That isn€™t to say the gimmick of the match didn€™t prove useful as what we got was effectively a ladder match with nothing to retrieve from the atop the ladder, and a tables match where the tables meant nothing. No one could have expected the match to be so compelling, so competitive and it was part of this true life comeback story and the audience€™s reaction that made the match feel so special. In an era that just about predated the common chants of €˜You€™ve still got it€™ there would have been no more fitting chant that night. Even Helmsley who had returned from a lengthy period of injury earlier in the year hadn€™t had anywhere near as good a match as this until SummerSlam 2002.