Well, they don't call him "Mr. WrestleMania" for nothing.
In ESPN's latest Off the Top Rope segment, conducted by former WWE employee Jonathan Coachman, the Worldwide Leader in Sports flashes back to Shawn Michaels' best WrestleMania moments. Great timing, considering WrestleMania 32 is less than a month away, ready to touch down at AT&T Stadium — home of the Dallas Cowboys — on April 3.
The ESPN segment started off with Coach shining the spotlight on Michaels' top feud, pulling up footage of the Heartbreak Kid going toe-to-toe with the Undertaker in front of more than 70,000 raucous fans at Reliant Stadium in Houston for WrestleMania XXV back in April 2009. The action-packed match had HBK giving the Dead Man everything he had, even kicking out of the Tombstone finisher at one point, much to the shock of the Phenom. In the end, the Undertaker was just too much of a force to overcome, as he was able to pin Michaels and keep his WrestleMania streak alive.
From there, Off the Top Rope continued to spotlight the Undertaker vs. Michaels feud, showing highlights of their insane WrestleMania XXVI match, which pitted Taker's streak against HBK's career, with the stipulation that if Michaels lost, he would have to retire from WWE.
Like their match at the "Show of Shows" the year before, this one didn't disappoint, seeing everything from Michaels slipping out of the Last Ride, to delivering Sweet Chin Music and moonsaulting to the outside onto a fallen Taker on the announce table. Again, though, the Undertaker would seal Michaels' fate with a Tombstone and victory.
That happened in 2010, but being that Michaels is Mr. WrestleMania, there's plenty of footage to dig up from WWE's vault. ESPN did just that, remembering Michaels' thrilling ladder match against Razor Ramon, with the Bad Guy being able to win the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania X.
Just when it looked like all of ESPN's handpicked Michaels WrestleMania moments would be all HBK losses, the Worldwide Leader in Sports flashed back to the Showstopper defeating Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV, and of course, his dramatic, 60-minute iron man match victory over Bret Hart for the World Heavyweight title in WrestleMania XII.
Classic material to say the least. Great moments, Coach!
