WWE WrestleMania 21 - Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle - 3 April 2005 

I have had the honor of attending one WrestleMania in my lifetime. WrestleMania 21 was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Home of the Lakers, in the western outskirts of downtown Los Angeles. My brother, cousin and I bought tickets to the event on eBay for almost six hundred dollars. I have attended other WWE events at that arena before, and since then (TV tapings, house shows) but none can match the electric feeling of WrestleMania.

Reminiscing about the card and the quality of the matches, there is only one that really stole the show, one match which had everyone in the arena on the edge of their seats —or completely on their feet, and seemed more important than the two top main event Title matches: One of the greatest workers and entertainers of all time, The Heart-Break Kid Shawn Michaels against the greatest wrestler of the modern era, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle.

The entire match is is posted above, do yourself a little favor and watch this epic encounter! (Note: That was the greatest WM match I’ve seen live. IMO The greatest WM match of all time is one that retroactively never happened, so need talk about things that aren’t cannon :p)

WWE RAW 6/27/2005 - John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan vs. Chris Jericho, Christian, Tyson Tomko (watch Part 2)

Notes: This was a Supershow TV taping; Raw was shot live, followed by that week’s Smackdown taped immediately after. Held at The Pond of Anaheim, now called the Honda Center. Once again, I attended this night with my brother and cousin. In case you haven’t figured it out, I live in Southern California. On an embarrassing note, I almost missed out on Kurt Angle vs. Ric Flair match due to me spending the entire commercial break after the RVD/Carlito segment in line for the restroom! I made back to my seat just in time to see most of the match & the finish —Naitch tapped to Angle’s Ankle Lock! Woooooo!

The video above was the Raw main event. Before the match, it was announced Cena & HBK would be teaming up with a “mystery partner”. I swear, everyone including yours truly thought it was going to be The Rock, especially since the heels made mention that they were “near Hollywood”. Hell, I wish it was The Rock —sorry Hulkamaniacs. Yeah, it was Hogan.

The place went even more nuts than it already was, with everyone on their feet, screaming loud and proud for the Icon returning to the squared circle for one more match. This is a Hogan post, so I will save my attention towards new-main eventer Christian and the suffering-to-be-loved John Cena circa 2005 for later entries.

Back to the Hulkster… I later read via dirt sheets he was injured at his WrestleMania 21 appearance & could not do his famous Leg Drop finishing move. Believe me when I tell you that I just freaked out when Hogan pulled the Leg Drop on Tomko! I’ve witnessed many sights in my short life, and can still envision that moment when closing my eyes today. This moment gave me flashbacks… remembering Hulk doing that same move on the Ultimate Warrior, only it was on TV and I was five years old. To see that live at age twenty was just a surreal feeling.

After this night, Hulk Hogan; the man, his legacy, career and attitude wasn’t the same, especially in my view. Another story for another time …brother.

WWE Tribute to the Troops 12/19/05 - Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H in a Boot Camp Match

WWF Raw 2/13/97 - Shawn Michaels loses his smile

WWF Raw 2/13/97 - Shawn Michaels - Tell Me a Lie 

—Remember when Shawn “lost his Smile”? I’m sure 12 year-old Ivan bought his bullshit then. In reality, HBK didn’t want to drop the WWF Championship back to Bret Hart at the upcoming WrestleMania 13. Michaels was a major asshole back in those pill-popping days…