Best match from every WWE WrestleMania event in history

WrestleMania XXIV

Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair

Much like why I chose Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X8, I’ve got to go with Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels as my choice for WrestleMania XXIV, even though The Undertaker vs. Edge main event may have been the better technical match. But that’s not to say that Flair and Michaels didn’t put in the work.

I was in attendance for this and the crowd was excited even though we knew exactly how it was going to turn out. But for a little while there, you actually thought for a moment that this wouldn’t be Flair’s final match. That’s how good these two were at telling the story. There was some respect at the start but things got aggressive when Shawn slapped Flair after The Nature Boy shoved him. Flair took a quick advantage and actually hit a spot off of the top rope for once before things went to the outside, at which point Michaels attempted a springboard moonsault that still makes me cringe every time I watch it. Flair moved out of the way and Shawn went ribs first into the announce table and it’s still amazing that he didn’t break anything. I remember myself and everyone around me in the arena missing the next few minutes of the match because we kept watching the replay over and over on the big video board above. Just brutal.

After Flair hit a couple of suplexes back on the inside, Flair was back on the floor and Michaels went for another moonsault, this time off the top rope, and caught Flair a little bit but crashed hard into the floor in another brutal bump. Back on the inside, HBK hesitated to hit Sweet Chin Music and Flair took advantage by locking in the Figure Four to a big reaction. He held it for a while and locked it again later but Michaels reversed that into a nice pinning combo for a two count. Flair was spent at this point but really tried to keep going and all that did was play into the narrative. He got a couple of his vintage dirty spots in until Michaels caught him with a nice surprise superkick. And then came the finish that will stand the test of time. Flair is already crying at this point and struggling to get to his feet while Shawn is looking on from the corner. He says “I’m sorry, I love you” and hits a big kick to get the victory in one of the most emotional scenes in WrestleMania history. That’s why this match is in this spot and that’s why this match is one of my favorites. It played well in person and plays well every single time I go back and watch it. I remain honored to have been there in person for this one.