WWE - Shawn Michaels: 5 Awesome Matches And 5 That Sucked

3. Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan - Summerslam, August 21st 2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_viLz2JAZ0 At his worst, Shawn Michaels could prove to be petulant, unwilling to put talent over and often treating things as if he was the only one who was important. There are several matches that could have proven this point (his match with Vader in 1996, for example) but perhaps the worst example of this was when he went up against someone just as good as backstage politics - Hulk Hogan. Whilst the idea of Michaels vs. Hogan facing off properly in a "Legend vs. Icon" was understandably a fan's dream, the way that the match turned out was more of a nightmare. Shawn had done everything he could to carry the feud in the weeks prior to Summerslam, so perhaps it's better to remember his work in that - his epic promo in Montreal, including the ultimate tease of Bret Hart's "return" - than the actual match. From the get go, Shawn oversold pretty much everything that Hogan could throw at him, making the entire match seem like a mockery. Shawn's backwards flip out of the ring from a shoulder block was more reminiscent to The Rock's brilliant selling of the Stunner, a legitimate finisher, than a basic wrestling move. It would only get worse, with Hogan looking progressively less impressed as the shameful display continued. For Shawn, this was all about making his own point: he was unhappy having to job to Hogan when he believed that he should be the one being put over, particularly given that he was going to have to do the majority of the work in the match one way or another. Whilst the aftermath of the match, with the two men shaking hands, was a glossy finish to the encounter, in many ways Shawn had allowed his personal feelings to get in the way of fans enjoying a match that should have been as iconic as the two men participating in it.