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The Undertaker Reacts To 35 Years Of Shawn Michaels In WWE

By John Canton • Published 19th June 2023
Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker

The Undertaker had some wonderful things about the man that was one of his greatest rivals in WWE, Shawn Michaels.

It has been 35 years since the WWE Universe was first introduced to the legendary two-time WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. Back then in 1988, he was part of the Rockers tag team with Marty Jannetty, which thrilled fans as one of the most exciting tag teams in WWE history.

Eight years after his WWE debut, Michaels climbed the mountain to win his first WWE World Title at WrestleMania 12 in 1996.

In the second half of 1997, Michaels started his legendary rivalry with The Undertaker, which started at SummerSlam 1997 when Michaels, as a referee, destroyed The Undertaker with a steel chair shot to the head. Michaels didn’t act remorseful about it, which would lead to D-Generation X forming.

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The first Michaels-Undertaker pay-per-view match was at Ground Zero in September 1997 with a non-finish. That would lead to the first-ever WWE Hell in a Cell match at Badd Blood in 1997 which saw Michaels and The Undertaker have one of the greatest matches in company history. That night also saw Michaels pick up the win thanks to Kane making his WWE debut to cost The Undertaker match.

There were plenty more Michaels-Undertaker moments including the 1998 Royal Rumble Casket Match that saw Michaels hurt his back on the casket and their legendary finish to the 2007 Royal Rumble as well.

Two matches are remembered the most from this rivalry with The Undertaker beating Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 in 2009 in a match that some people call the greatest match in WWE history. One year later, they had another classic match at WrestleMania 26 that led to Michaels retiring as a full-time wrestler since he could end The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania.

Michaels, who currently works for WWE as the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative meaning he’s in charge of the NXT brand, was thankful for the anniversary love that he received.

Many people that worked with Shawn Michaels in the past along with those that still work with them also chimed in with their thoughts.

The Undertaker also tweeted some comments about Michaels being the greatest wrestler ever along with a picture of the two WWE icons shaking hands.

Throughout my career, if I had to pick one person to share the ring with, without hesitation it would be @ShawnMichaels! He is one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of wrestling boots! Congrats on 35 years with @WWE, you have earned all the accolades bestowed upon you!

Shawn Michaels and the NXT brand will present their Gold Rush episode of NXT this Tuesday night with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins defending his title against Bron Breakker.