After his debut in WWE in 1990, The Undertaker has shared the squared circle with a who’s who of Superstars, with the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Rock, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart all facing off against ‘The Deadman’ during his in-ring tenure.
And whilst one WWE Hall Of Famer did not make The Undertaker’s most recent Mount Rushmore selection, he was highlighted as ‘Mount Rushmore’ level by the former four-time WWE Champion
The Undertaker names Shawn Michaels as a ‘Mount Rushmore kind of talent’
The Undertaker recently named his selections for the Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling and whilst former two-time WrestleMania opponent ‘The Heartbreak Kid‘ did not appear on the list, he did state in a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani Meets that ‘The Showstopper’ was a talent that belonged in the same conversation.
“Shawn, obviously, had more demons you know [than Triple H] but he overcame that and, you know, matured and is just, you know, a phenomenal person now.
As far as a talent, man, Shawn is, I mean that’s top tier talent, Mount Rushmore kind of talent, in my opinion”
Despite not naming Michaels in his Mount Rushmore selections, ‘The Deadman’ did select his WrestleMania 25 classic against ‘HBK’ as the favourite WrestleMania match of his career. The Undertaker would face Michaels in a re-match the following year at WrestleMania 26 in Arizona, where ‘The Demon Of Death Valley would score another victory and send Michaels into a long standing retirement.
They would face off one final time at Crown Jewel 2018 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Undertaker and brother Kane would join forces to battle D-Generation X, the pairing of Michaels and Triple H, in the main event. The disastrous bout was widely panned by fans and critics alike and has so far proven to be Michaels final in-ring match for WWE.
Despite ranking highly on The Undertaker’s all-time list, Michaels revealed in a previous interview with CBS Sports that he and his former foe were not close outside of the ring:
“Look, Mark and I were never friends. We weren’t close, and we didn’t ride together. Usually you have that chemistry with guys who you did do that with where you have at least a little more positive working relationship.
Mark and I had just fantastic chemistry without ever really even talking to each other, which is pretty different. My two favourite matches I’ll always enjoy will be the Hell in a Cell and fast forward what feels like 100 years later at WrestleMania 25. To me, that’s probably one of the most perfect things I’ve ever seen or done, and I think there are a lot of people who feel the same way.”
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