When wrestling fans and critics discuss Mount Rushmore, Shawn Michaels is often in the conversation for being one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Michaels is a remarkable performer, and he could put on five-star clinics constantly. The Heartbreak Kid initially started his WWE career as a tag team competitor alongside Marty Jannetty as the Rockers but once their relationship soured, Michaels became the major star out of the pairing.RELATED: Shawn Michaels's 10 Best World Title Matches, RankedThe Showstopper has won countless championships in his WWE career, and he is a four-time WWE World Champion. He captured the WWE Championship three times, and the World Heavyweight Championship once. There's no doubt that Michaels would have hit double digits had he not sustained a career-threatening back injury in 1998. He was robbed four years of his wrestling career but Michaels did some soul searching, and he came back better than ever in 2002. Michaels is known as Mr. WrestleMania for the classics he put on at the Grandest Stage of them All, but he defeated some iconic legends for his four world championship reigns.
4 Shawn Michaels Vs. Sycho Sid - Royal Rumble 1997
Shawn Michaels' eight-month reign as WWE Champion came to a crashing halt by Sycho Sid at Survivor Series 1996. However, two months later, Michaels invoked his rematch clause at the 1997 Royal Rumble which emanated in the Alamodome in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. The reception that Michaels received was deafening, and he deserves a lot of credit for putting on a superb match with Sid, considering he was under the weather.
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Michaels withstood the barrage that Sid threw at him, and Michaels traditionally works well with larger guys. The flu was never going to stop HBK from performing in front of his hometown fans. Sid knocked down the referee, which proved to be an unwise decision as HBK assaulted Sid with a camera, and he executed his patented Sweet Chin Music to become a two-time WWE Champion.
3 Shawn Michaels Vs. Bret Hart - Survivor Series 1997
At Survivor Series 1997, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart finally settled the score in a marquee WWE Championship. The Excellence of Execution was the reigning WWE Champion, and HBK had the European Championship in his possession. The two bitter rivals had a personal disdain for each other which made their feud enticing to watch.
Before the bell sounded, Michaels and Bret brawled around the arena, and briefly took their fight into the crowd. This was a quality WWE Championship match, despite their issues, they knew how to put on an instant classic. However, Michaels applied the sharpshooter on Hart, and before Hart could release himself from the hold, Earl Hebner called for the bell, and the Sharpshooter captured his third WWE Championship. Bret was screwed, and he headed for WCW with the angle known as the Montreal Screwjob.
2 Shawn Michaels Vs. Triple H Vs. Rob Van Dam Vs. Booker T Vs. Chris Jericho Vs. Kane - Survivor Series 2002
Five years after his last appearance at Survivor Series, Shawn Michaels once again found himself challenging for the top prize in the industry. This time, Michaels was amongst one of the challengers alongside Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Chris Jericho, and Kane who challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship in the inaugural Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002.
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Michaels was head and shoulders above everyone in this match, and he operated at an extremely high level. HBK contributed to Kane's elimination, and he removed Chris Jericho from the equation with a delightful Sweet Chin Music. Ultimately, Michaels wore the proverbial crimson mask but he delivered the Sweet Chin Music to his former best friend Triple H to become World Heavyweight Champion. Confetti fell, and the roof almost blew off Madison Square Garden after Michaels prevailed.
1 Shawn Michaels Vs. Bret Hart - WrestleMania 12
Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble match for the second consecutive year in January 1996, and he was hoping to go one better by converting his Rumble victory into the holy grail, that is the WWE Championship. It sounds simple but Michaels had to go through Bret Hart in a 60-minute Iron Man match that headlined WrestleMania 12âââââ.
Both trained extremely hard for this match, and the lack of falls may have hampered this encounter. However, it is an all-time classic that fans fondly remember to this present day. Of course, there were some lulls but there was some outstanding wrestling between the pair. An hour elapsed with neither man separated and the scores were level at 0-0. That all changed, a couple of minutes into overtime as HBK nailed Hart with his patented Sweet Chin Music for his first WWE Championship reign. The boyhood dream came true, and Michaels took a few moments by sitting on the ground to soak in the moment and he celebrated with the fans in one of the best world championship victories in WWE history.
