#9 – Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
SummerSlam 2002
Uniondale, NY
Enter one of my favorite personal rivals in the history of pro wrestling. At this point Shawn Michaels had been gone from the WWF for four years, and many had no idea if he’d ever wrestle again. When he did return, he tried to reform DX with Triple H, who then attacked him from behind, but his head through a car window, and made him bleed profusely. Enough so that their match at SummerSlam was technically an “unsanctioned” street fight – because, you know, that’s not a law suit waiting to happen or anything.
I don’t know if this match was the best of their rivalry – out of their singles matches anyway – but this is where it all started. This is the match that prompted HBK to enter the Elimination Chamber, to recapture the boyhood dream, and to continue his feud with Triple H for the next several years in Last Man Standing matches, Hell in a Cell matches, WrestleMania main events and more. This was the end of the Attitude Era, with two of its biggest stars breaking up and beginning the next generation of the WWE.
