The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

The Winner: The Undertaker

Background Noise

One year after he lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels still could not shake the feeling that his career was incomplete and he could not stand that. So at the December 2009 Slammy show (a full 4 months before WrestleMania) he made the challenge. Undertaker was World Heavyweight Champion at this point. Shawn realized that he needed to win the Royal Rumble to get his shot but he failed. At the February 2010 PPV (Elimination Chamber), he cost The Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship. The next night on RAW, The Undertaker said that if Shawn wanted a shot at ending The Streak, he had to put something up of his own. His career. Shawn accepted and here we are.

This was the closing match of the show. Shawn Michaels entered first.

The Bell

Both of these men look very orange. Plus the crowd lighting. Orange all around. Right before the bell rang, Shawn did Undertaker’s throat slit taunt. He was trying to get into his head.

Undertaker misses a big running right hand and Shawn unleashes chops in the corner. Undertaker escapes and hits his snake eyes boot. Then he goes for the old school arm wrench. After he hits it, Undertaker limps as if he has tweaked his knee. This of course prevents him from hitting a chokeslam. Shawn is able to derail any offense of The Undertaker’s for several minutes by kicking Undertaker’s leg. Undertaker goes after Shawn’s arm. Shawn breaks away and nearly hits the Sweet Chin Music. That creates separation between the two men. Shawn then begins diving towards the leg of the Undertaker. He is using predatory offense. Undertaker dumps Shawn out of the ring and teases a dive, much like the one that almost broke his own neck at the previous year’s Wrestlemania. Shawn cuts him off though by rushing back into the ring and spearing him. The match spills back outside and Taker sends Shawn spine first into the ring post, he then hits the guillotine legdrop on the apron. Before Undertaker could take any advantage of the legdrop, Shawn takes his legs out from under him and locks in a Figure 4.

Undertaker rolls over in the hold, reversing the pressure. Back to their feet, the men start trading blows. Undertaker ends that with a chokeslam, but Shawn kicks out at two. Undertaker goes for a tombstone piledriver, Shawn reverses that into an ankle lock submission. Undertaker uses his height to kick Shawn in the face with his free foot and break out. Shawn clotheslines The Undertaker out of the ring and then tries for an asai moonsault. Undertaker catches him and after some readjusting, hits a tombstone on the outside. This was the finish of the previous years match (moonsault to tombstone), but on concrete, so it is bigger and stuff.

Undertaker throws Shawn back into the ring and goes for a pin but it is only a two count. Presumably because there was a lapse of time between the move and the pin. Undertaker goes for a last ride and Shawn reverses it to a facebuster. The announcers can’t agree whether it was a success on Shawn’s part or a failure on The Undertaker’s part. Shawn could only get a two count regardless of it. Shawn goes for an elbow drop off the top rope but Undertaker gets his knees up and that injures Shawn’s arm. Undertaker tries his gogoplata submission but Shawn reverses it into a jackknife pin for a 2 count. They both struggle back to their feet. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music. It draws a two count. Shawn signals that he is trying for another one. Undertaker catches it, reverses and hits The Last Ride. Shawn kicks out at two. Undertaker follows up the failed pin attempt by throwing Shawn out of the ring. He dismantles the Spanish announce table and tries to Last Ride powerbomb Shawn through it. Shawn reverses and hits The Sweet Chin Music which sends Undertaker onto the announce table.

HUGE MOONSAULT FROM THE TOP ROPE THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!

Shawn Michaels rolls The Undertaker into the ring. SWEET CHIN MUSIC!!!! ONE….TWO….KICKOUT AT TWO!!!!

Shawn signals that he is going for another Sweet Chin Music. Undertaker catches him and reverses to a chokeslam. Tombstone piledriver by The Undertaker. Shawn kicks out. Undertaker looks shocked at this development.

UNDERTAKER DROPS THE STRAP AND SLITS HIS THROAT! HE IS SIGNALING FOR THE END! He looks at Shawn with pity though. Shawn is pulling himself up. He slits his throat, much like he did at the beginning of the match. He then hits a vicious slap to the Undertaker. Undertaker basically says “Fuck this guy” and hits a JUMPING Tombstone Piledriver to finish the match and the career of Shawn Michaels.

The Verdict

This match goes on very well with the previous year’s, plus the two matches that follow it in The Undertaker’s streak. So many call backs to moments from the previous ones.