4 Era-Defining Matches Responsible for Our Readers' Fandom

These three men were mentioned more than almost any other in our poll of favorite matches of all time.

#1 The WrestleMania GOAT and its career-ending sequel

Few men can say they've ended their career on a hot streak the level with which Shawn Michaels did. — Few men can say they've ended their career on a hot streak on the level that Shawn Michaels did.

Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels is for younger fans what Hogan-Warrior was in 1990. Two of the most colossal stars, not just of that time period, but of all time colliding in front of over 70,000 fans in a classic 25-minute encounter.

Most of WWE's current audience was not watching, let alone alive when Undertaker and Shawn Michaels had their pre-Attitude series, including the epic origination of Hell in a Cell (which many fans mentioned in our Facebook thread), and the nearly career-ending casket match at 1998's Royal Rumble PPV. For them, Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels was a dream encounter occasionally teased in Rumble matches but never to be seen, as the pair seemed always separated on separate shows or sectors of the card.

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Like with Rock-Austin, choosing a favorite among the two matches in this series is difficult for many, and the more highly-rated (by WWE and by critics) WrestleMania 25 clash (WWE's pick for Greatest of All Time) seemed to have just as many votes as the Career vs. Streak sequel at WrestleMania XXVI.

Both were instant classics, and features spots which will undoubtedly live forever; for personal preference, Shawn Michaels begging to be put out of his misery before slapping Undertaker into the greatest WrestleMania Tombstone of all time gives Part II the edge, but that's one man's opinion.

Edited by Kishan Prasad