WWE WrestleMania Flashback: ‘End of an Era’

Welcome to the second edition of the WrestleMania Flashback series here at FanSided, where we’ll be taking a look back at some of the greatest matches and moments in WrestleMania history as we travel the road to WrestleMania 33. Last week, we celebrated the five-year anniversary of the “Once In A Lifetime” match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII and today, we’ll be taking a look back at that same WrestleMania as we chronicle the events of the “End of an Era” match that took place that night in Miami between The Undertaker and Triple H.

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In the storied history of WWE, the list of people who can tell better stories in the ring than The Undertaker, Triple H and Shawn Michaels wouldn’t be very long. So we were well aware that putting these three men together in the ring at WrestleMania XXVIII could be something very special. And that’s just what we got five years ago in South Beach.

The buildup to this match was beautifully executed. The Undertaker had beaten Shawn Michaels at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania in arguably the greatest match in WrestleMania history and then proceeded retire The Heartbreak Kid one year later at WrestleMania XXVI. Another year later, Triple H tried to get some revenge for his longtime best friend but came up short in a great No Holds Barred Match inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. But while The Undertaker got the victory, Triple H was the one who was able to walk away from the contest under his own power as for the first time ever, ‘Taker was carted out on a stretcher at the biggest show of the year to the shock of everyone watching the scene play out t

This played beautifully into setting up this match at WrestleMania XXVIII.

Following a 10-month hiatus, The Undertaker showed up on Monday Night RAW in late January of 2012. The Deadman immediately challenged Triple H to a rematch, proclaiming he didn’t want the scene of him being carried out to be a lasting memory and offered The Game one more shot at breaking the streak, which was up to 19 at this point. But Triple H refused, saying that The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania had become a brand of its own and that he didn’t need to be the one to do it. Enter Shawn Michaels, who pleaded with his friend to accept the challenge, which Triple H still refused to do.

This whole saga played out over a number of weeks until The Undertaker took things a step further. In what was a fantastic segment on RAW in Minneapolis, ‘Taker told Triple H that, like it or not, they were the last two of their kind and the uncertainty of what happened the year before had to be rectified. Triple H finally came out for a face-to-face confrontation and tells him that the match is simply bad for business, saying that he wants their era to carry on and won’t extinguish the flame of the torch that The Undertaker carries. But as the COO goes to exit the ring, ‘Taker calls him a coward and takes things even further by telling him that Shawn Michaels was always better than him anyway. That did it. Triple H finally accepted the match but told The Deadman that if they were going to do this, they were going to take it all the way — and that means Hell in a Cell. Things kicked up yet another notch two weeks later in another fantastic segment when Michaels revealed that he would be the special guest referee. Absolutely perfect buildup.

I think everyone knew what the outcome of this match would be but the delivery was so well done that I don’t think it really mattered to anyone. Triple H and The Undertaker had already battled twice at WrestleMania –don’t you dare forget about their match at WrestleMania X-Seven– and plenty of times over the years so we knew that they could put on a great match with one another. Adding HBK to the mix was just a bonus and it played out nicely. Not to mention, sitting Jim Ross down on the commentary team for this one certainly didn’t hurt.

The entrances actually weren’t as long as I expected them to be and the Hell in a Cell structure even got its own special introduction for this one. The big action started immediately as the two slugged it out to start the match and they took things to the outside fairly quickly. Triple H took a nice bump on the floor before getting tossed into the ring steps, which would come into play again shortly after as ‘Taker used them like a chair and blasted Triple H in the face with them. The steps were thrown into the ring as the two continued to battle and The Undertaker took a big spinebuster right onto them. However, The Deadman actually used being on his back to his advantage by locking in a Hell’s Gate submission, which Triple H reversed into a slam on the steps for two-count. Very entertaining start.

Chairs were brought into play next as Triple H blasted The Undertaker in the back before driving him back into the steps in the corner and continued the onslaught of chair shots, hitting him nine times across the back before HBK intervened. But he got a few more in and a couple of two counts before bringing in his sledgehammer. He nailed ‘Taker with it and was winding up to finish him but Michaels yanked it away from him before he could deliver the devastating blow. Triple H yells at Shawn to end it but as Michaels goes to check on The Undertaker, he gets himself locked into a Hell’s Gate for his troubles, knocking him out the match for a little while. He then once again put the hold on Triple H, rendering him unconscious for a moment. Referee Charles Robinson hits the ring to count but The Game isn’t done yet and kicks out after a dramatic two count. Not satisfied with failing to get the 1-2-3, Robinson gets a chokeslam for apparently not counting the right way. This was just a beautiful sequence to watch.

Michaels is back to his feet now and hits Sweet Chin Music on The Undertaker, which Triple H follows up with a Pedigree and, for a moment, you actually thought they might end the streak here. Everything was so perfectly executed that even the live crowd thought they might be witnessing history. But ‘Taker was up at two and Triple H isn’t pleased about it. He moves Shawn aside but walks right into a Tombstone for another dramatic two count. The two slug it out once again after a minute and Triple H is able to get one more Pedigree in, which is usually enough. But this is WrestleMania and this is The Undertaker. He survives once again and Triple H goes back to the sledgehammer but it’s ‘Taker’s time for weapons and exacts revenge with his own barrage of chair shots. What really made this part of the match work was how Triple H sold it. He was just crawling around, groveling and cowering and it’s so beautiful to watch.

Triple H was as defiant as ever in the end as he gave the signature crotch chop to ‘Taker and he practically begs his legendary opponent to hit him with the sledgehammer. But it was merely one last Tombstone and Michaels hit the ground to count the 1-2-3 to give The Deadman his 20th consecutive victory at WrestleMania. This match went just over half an hour and delivered on all levels. It was never going to be the most technical match in history, and I never wanted it to be. It was supposed to be bitter rivals duking it out and that’s what we got. And having Shawn involved just made it that much better.

While the match itself was good, what happened afterwards turned this into one of the most epic WrestleMania moments in history.

I know there’s a lot of people out there who don’t like the handshakes and hugs after certain matches but this was one of those times that even the harshest critics of that had to let things go for this one. HBK helped ‘Taker to his feet and then they both got Triple H to his and left the ring. They walked the ramp arm-in-arm, and when they reached the top to a thunderous ovation from the live crowd, they gave us one of those lasting images that will be etched into the brains of WWE fans forever. The Undertaker. Triple H. Shawn Michaels. Three of the best in history that defined an era standing together one more time. Perfect.