The Piledriver Report 10.15.08: The Shawn Michaels Story Part Seven – Dream Match Michaels

Back in the eighties and early nineties, one of the best parts of being a fan of the WWF was that they delivered “dream matches.” Whether it was Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, Hogan vs. the Ultimate Warrior, or the first Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair series of matches, the WWF always seemed to deliver the matches that the fans only dreamed of. However, once the “Monday Night Wars” ended, the so-called “dream matches” were few and far between. Thankfully, in 2005, the now WWE gave the fans two dream matches to sink their teeth into. Shawn Michaels would be involved in both.

The first dream match was set up at the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels eliminated SmackDown! star Kurt Angle. Angle didn’t take too kindly to this. He re-entered the ring, eliminated Shawn, and applied the ankle lock submission on Shawn outside of the ring. The WWE started a slow build towards a Michaels/Angle match. It wasn’t until the RAW following February’s No Way Out pay per view that Michaels finally challenged Kurt Angle to a dream match at WrestleMania 21. Angle wasn’t quick to respond. When Tazz confronted Kurt regarding Shawn’s challenge, Angle left the ring without answering Michaels question.

After the following week’s Michaels/Edge contest on RAW, Angle attacked the “Heartbreak Kid.” He hit Shawn with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex, and an Olympic Slam. Moments later, Angle grabbed a microphone and accepted Michaels’ challenge for WrestleMania. Shawn would even the score by attacking Angle on SmackDown!

On the next RAW telecast, Shawn cut a promo on facing Kurt Angle at WrestleMania. He was interrupted by Angle on the Titantron, who said his issue with Michaels dated back to 1996 and that Angle would do everything Shawn did in his career over the span of the next 4 weeks.

As part of his promise, during SmackDown!, Kurt faced Mike Haywood in that week’s Kurt Angle Invitational. To prove that he could accomplish everything that Shawn did in his career, Kurt Angle added a stipulation to that week’s Invitational. He would fight , and defeat, Mike Haywood in a ladder match. After the match Angle, while sitting on the top of the ladder, showed a clip from WrestleMania V. He talked about Marty Jannetty being Michaels’ former tag team partner, and announced that he would face Jannetty the following week on SmackDown! Kurt Angle would defeat Marty Jannety in their match. During the build-up, Angle even worked a segment that featured Sensational Sherri, where he applied the ankle lock on her.

On April 3rd, Shawn Michaels battled Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21 in a match that lasted over 27 minutes. Kurt Angle beat Shawn by submission when Shawn was trapped in the ankle lock for over two minutes.

On the next night’s RAW, while Michaels was asking the fans if they want to see a rematch against Kurt Angle, the WWE was putting their plan into motion for Michaels second dream match rival of the year. Michaels was interrupted and attacked by Muhammad Hassan and Daivari. The following week, Michaels approached Eric Bischoff, and demanded a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused to schedule the match, but told Michaels to find a partner and he would grant him the match. Michaels made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him. On the April 18th episode of RAW, Hassan again attacked Michaels until Hogan appeared to save Michaels and accept his offer to team up together. The two teamed up on May 1st at Backlash to beat Hassan and Daivari.

While building up the Hogan/Michaels storyline, the “Heartbreak Kid” was still having a rivalry going with Kurt Angle. At Vengeance on June 26th, Shawn Michaels gained revenge on Kurt for his WrestleMania loss, by pinning the Olympic champion after hitting him with “Sweet Chin Music.”

The next night, Hogan reteamed with Shawn Michaels. This time they added John Cena to the mix. The three defeated Chris Jericho, Christian, and Tyson Tomko when Hogan pinned Tomko with a boot to the face and the legdrop. After the bout, all three faces posed in the ring for several minutes before Cena left ringside to give the spotlight to Hogan and Michaels.

On the 4th of July edition of RAW, Hulk Hogan was a guest of Carlito’s Cabana and a clip from the upcoming “Hogan Knows Best” series was shown. After Hogan knocked Carlito down when he made comments about Hogan’s daughter Brooke, Kurt Angle came out and said he would make Brooke tap out. Hogan began fighting Angle until he was double-teamed by the heels. Shawn Michaels came down to the ring to make the save. Later in the night, Hogan and Michaels teamed to beat Carlito and Kurt Angle. After the bout, as Hogan and Michaels celebrated in the ring, Michaels hit the superkick on his partner and left the ring. The following week on RAW, Michaels appeared on Piper’s Pit where he superkicked Roddy Piper and then challenged Hogan to a match at SummerSlam 2005.

Leading up to his match with Hogan, Shawn Michaels rediscovered his inner heel character. He participated in a segment with actors who were impersonating the Hogan family. Shawn later appeared in a “Larry King Live” spoof, where Michaels dressed up as Hulk Hogan, and parodied the “Hulkster.” At Summer Slam 2005, Hulk Hogan beat Shawn Michaels in their first, and only match. After the match, Michaels and Hogan shook hands to give Shawn his face pops back.

Despite being a face again, Shawn showed that he hadn’t completely changed from the “old” Shawn Michaels of the mid-late nineties. Shawn wasn’t happy that he did the job at SummerSlam, and on RAW, he let the world know it. During the opening promo, Shawn Michaels sarcastically said Hogan was cat-like in the ring and was simply superior to Michaels. Shawn then stated that Hogan was on a plane back to Florida and would only return when the WWE fans gave him what he wanted, using a hand gesture to imply that it was money the “Hulkster” was seeking.

With the second “dream match” over, it was time for Shawn to move his focus on to other competitors. Shawn began a feud against Chris Masters. The two wrestled at Unforgiven, where Shawn would beat Masters by pinfall.

On September 26th’s edition of RAW, the final RAW on the Spike-TV network, during a Vince McMahon promo, Kurt Angle came out and said he should be the one to face John Cena next week for the world title. Shawn Michaels then came out and said he was also deserving of a title match. McMahon then announced that Angle and Michaels would face each other the during next week’s RAW return to the USA Network in a 30-minute Ironman match. In the final one-on-on match-up on national TV, the two wrestled to a 30-minute draw, scoring 2 falls a piece. While that was their final major singles match in the rivalry, the two continued to wage war on each other. On RAW, they fought against each other in tag team competition. On November 1st, at Taboo Tuesday, Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels fought each other, along with John Cena in a Triple Threat WWE World title match. John Cena would go on to win the match after he hit Shawn with the FU following Shawn’s superkick of Kurt Angle.

At the end of December, the WWE set up Shawn’s next feud. This time, he would do battle with the man who signs his paychecks; Vince McMahon. It all started on the December 26th edition of RAW. Vince promised to review the new Bret Hart DVD. Vince McMahon showed a clip from the DVD of Bret saying he wouldn’t change anything he did. Moments later, Shawn Michaels came out, with the crowd chanting “We Want Bret”, said he would do it all over again and then told Vince to move on and not to let Montreal be a constant topic of conversation. Vince then said that Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, Superstar Billy Graham, and Hulk Hogan all “moved on” but McMahon remained constant, and then asked if Shawn wanted to join that list. McMahon said his New Year’s resolution was not to take crap from Michaels or anyone else and that, while he did screw Bret Hart, he could also screw Michaels.

While 2005 gave the fans something to “dream” about, 2006 will present a reunion between Shawn Michaels and one of his best friends. This reunion will be discussed in detail in, I’ve got two words for you, NEXT WEEK!!!!