We’re back for another dive into The Streak with the first WrestleMania showdown between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels: A Match Missed for Years
This match took place at WrestleMania 25 in both men’s home state of Texas. What’s interesting about this bout is that both men had been in WWE at the same time for years. However, this story is one of two boats passing in the night. When The Undertaker was originally on the rise as a special attraction, HBK was still in The Rockers with Marty Jannetty.
Once the future “Mr. WrestleMania” finally began his run as a singles wrestler in the company, Taker had already defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship. It wasn’t until the New Generation period of WWE that the two of them were finally at the same card position. Even then, the two of them were involved in different feuds.
When they finally got to feud, it was months after WrestleMania XIII and way before WrestleMania XIV. It is fitting that they faced off at the 25th WM. When 2009 rolled around, HBK was finally winding things down and had to check “WrestleMania match with The Undertaker” off his career bucket list.
That was great for Michaels as Taker was basically defending the Streak at this time. Both men knew the importance of the event and of this match, so they brought the razzle-dazzle both in their entrances and the match.
I mean, white and gold gear Shawn Michaels will always scream “Showstopper” and “Mr. WrestleMania” to me. Plus, there was this born-again Christian element to HBK’s entrance while The Undertaker came out for another year of darkside dominance at the event.
WrestleMania 25
What I dig about the match is that even though both men were well into their 40s, they still went at it as if they were in their 20s or 30s but with the storytelling ability that comes with wrestling for years. Going with the storytelling here is that both men were extremely familiar with each other’s offense and ability—even if both of the old dogs added a few new tricks in that time.
Most of their offense was countered or evaded. Those moves that they only burst out during WrestleMania—Taker’s dive to the outside and Michaels’ moonsault—were both shut down. Notably, the Undertaker almost took a header on the outside since the cameraman—Sim Snuka—was further back than he should’ve been. Fortunately, the Taker was able to continue against HBK.
In the climax of the match, both HBK and the Deadman were exhausted enough that their opponent’s offense began connecting. However, they weren’t exhausted to the point that they couldn’t kick out.
A last-ditch attempt by Shawn Michaels to put the Deadman down with his moonsault ended poorly as he was caught by Taker and drilled into the mat with the Tombstone Piledriver.
The first Taker-HBK WrestleMania bout got the Match of the Year nod from Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Honestly, it was a damn dope match that had a backstory to it and allowed for a good story to be told.
It wasn’t a “These two guys are good, they’re legends, let’s do a dream match for WM 25” match at all. WWE actually made a story around these two never facing off at a WrestleMania and they delivered in an over 30-minute classic.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: To get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
