The Wrestling Bard 03.28.10: Running Up That Hill – The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

Tonight is the night. Wrestlemania XXVI will be upon us within hours. The card is one of the most complete in the show’s history, with every match having a reason to make you want to see it. But for me, and I imagine many of you, the biggest attraction is not the main events. Edge and Chris Jericho will deliver a great wrestling match, and John Cena and Batista will provide a spectacle. Surprisingly, it’s not Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon, a match that goes back to an event that happened some twelve-thirteen years ago. No; the match that has me shaking in my seat, the one I am dying to see, has history that goes back even further. And it is a match that when it was first tossed around, I had no interest in seeing.

I will carry out great vengeance upon them and punish them in my wrath… – Ezekiel 25:17

It all started with a chair. One not intended for The Undertaker, but for Bret Hart. That chair cost The Deadman the World Championship. Said belt is the top prize for all wrestlers, but for Undertaker it means more. Few would dare cross him; he has been well established as the most dangerous, dominant wrestler in WWE. But for the chance to become champion, logic will be forgotten for the sake of glory. Possessing the World Title insures that people will come to The Undertaker, so that he will always have souls to defeat and bury. A single errant chair shot cost Undertaker his insurance policy; the person who was responsible for that chair shot was going to have to pay, and pay dearly.

Undertaker has never been the most forgiving man, but even he could tell this was an accident. Perhaps if Shawn Michaels showed remorse and apologized, he would have planted him with the Tombstone Piledriver and moved on. But Shawn did not accept any responsibility for his actions. In fact, before their match at In Your House: Grand Zero, he blasted The Deadman with another chair, and that was very intentional. Fans had yearned for a reason to boo Shawn, and this series of events finally turned them against him. Michaels responded by becoming more cocky, more conceited, and more arrogant than ever. He would find out that his pride had a price.

…and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 13:50

The match at Ground Zero was the first ever match-up between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Well, if you can call it a match. It was more like a twenty minute beating. The Heart Break Kid barely got any offense for the duration of the bout. Only at the end, with the assistance of Triple H and his bodyguard Chyna, was he able to compete with The Phenom. Due to a number of referees being assaulted throughout the contest and the interference, there was never an official decision. Most of the locker room emptied to separate the two men and bring their wild brawl to an end, but not even they could stop it. Consumed with thirst for revenge, The Deadman soared over the top rope and onto the group trying to protect Shawn.

Clearly, the result of this match wasn’t going to satisfy Undertaker. A rematch would have to be made, and this time, there had to be no possible way for Helmsley and Chyna to interfere. The simple cage of metal bars would not suffice for this; they could climb over the top and assist Shawn, or at the very least sneak in weapons through the large empty squares between the steel. Instead, a new match was created, one that would make interference impossible. The gigantic contraption of steel mesh was twenty feet high, with a roof on top so no one could climb it. Such an environment was created for one sinister purpose. The Undertaker had damned Shawn Michaels; this cage was to be his own personal Hell.

Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. – Proverbs 16:18

Unfortunately for The Undertaker, even the best laid plans cannot defend against the unpredictable. While he had received many threats from Paul Bearer that his brother was still alive, he was clearly unconvinced. The shock of Kane’s appearance left him vulnerable to a Tombstone Piledriver, and Shawn was able to cover him for the three count. Officially, the record said that the one decisive victory between Undertaker and Michaels was Shawn’s. In reality, it was Kane who won the match for the Heart Break Kid. Michaels had received the most brutal beating of his life, and had escaped by an act of providence involving a psychotic monster who had a score to settle with Undertaker. Such a tremendous punishment would be a humbling experience for anybody.

Naturally, Shawn Michaels just become more defiant and brash. Helmsley, now christened “Triple H”, Chyna and Rick Rude were his running buddies. They did whatever they pleased and answered to no one. Bret Hart called the group “degenerates”. Rather than be insulted, they embraced the moniker and became D-Generation X. In the most controversial match of all time, Michaels defeated Hart to become the champion. Now he held the belt that he had taken from Undertaker and handed to Bret. He was now calling himself “The Showstopper, The Headliner, The Main Event, The Icon.” And since he held the belt, it was true; he could say whatever he wanted.

At least until The Undertaker came calling. Hell in a Cell had failed him thanks to an unforeseen and ruthless attack from a third party. But now, Undertaker and Kane had seemingly reconciled. If Shawn thought he could prance around with the championship that still rightfully belonged to The Lord of Darkness, he was only fooling himself. The cost of the next encounter was steeper than any price that Michaels was willing to pay.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. – Romans 8:18

Once again, the scorecard chalked another “Win” for Shawn Michaels. However, a back injury suffered in this match would cost Michaels his career. Almost unable to walk, the Champion valiantly defended his title at Wrestlemania XIV against Stone Cold Steve Austin. He lost. The next four years were a remarkable journey for Shawn. He left the WWE a broken and bitter man, no longer able to do what he loved. Depressed and addicted to sleeping pills and pain medication, Shawn was on the fast track to nowhere. Perhaps The Undertaker was the real winner after all.

However, the injury may have indeed been the best thing that ever happened to Michaels. The man married and had children; the new found responsibility made his faults obvious to him. Through the support of his family and his faith in God, Shawn was able to recover from his demons. Miraculously, his back was also healed; after four years, Michaels returned to the ring a changed man. While he still had pride and confidence, the ego and arrogance of his youth was nowhere to be found.

Inevitably though, Michaels was bound to run into one more demon from his past. Nine years after being dropped on a casket and having his career almost ended, Shawn Michaels once again found himself in a ring across from The Undertaker. The stakes could not be higher; they were the last two men in the Royal Rumble match, with the winner to get a shot at the World Champion in the main event of Wrestlemania. Michaels passion had been reawakened. He would not go down without a fight.

Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon? If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows. – Job 41:7-8

But he would fall nonetheless. Perhaps it was his maturity and faith that allowed Michaels to accept the loss. Facing John Cena for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 23 in the final match of the night probably didn’t hurt. But this Royal Rumble had reminded Michaels that as he good as he was and for all of his accomplishments, there is one thing he had never done. Shawn had never defeated Undertaker. History said otherwise, but history is rewritten to suit those who write it. Shawn knew that it was only because of Kane that his record against The Phenom was 2-0-1.

For two years this reality ate at Shawn. In 2008, he got a small measure of revenge by eliminating The Undertaker from that year’s Royal Rumble. In 2009, it was The Undertaker’s words that finally made him realize that he was more than a servant to John Bradshaw Layfield. 2008 had been a terrible year for Michaels personally. He had to retire his idol Ric Flair and suffer Batista’s wrath for it. A personal war with Chris Jericho broke Shawn’s emotional walls and left him worried for his soul. And being Bradshaw’s hired employee simply to make ends meet had torn away every last shred of dignity he had left.

“Sometimes it is Hell trying to get to Heaven.”

Those words woke Michaels up from his depressed stupor. The truth set him free, and he found the courage to rebel against his boss and win his freedom. But the words also brought a feeling that Shawn had been unable to feel for the last twelve months: pride. And now that pride was unhindered by guilt, suffering and hopelessness, it spoke one message loud and clear to Michaels: “You have to do it Shawn. You have to defeat The Undertaker. At Wrestlemania. You’ll never live with yourself unless you do it.”

Convinced that his need was enough to carry him to victory, Michaels made the challenge. The stage was set for an epic battle between Michaels and The Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXV. Michaels came in proud, confidant, and unshakable in his faith that he could beat The Deadman and end The Streak.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me… – Psalm 23:4

Shawn Michaels lost.

Like the sixteen men before him, Michaels was unable to defeat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. He had wrestled a nearly flawless match. His game plan had been to frustrate the Undertaker, to break him down emotionally and leave him vulnerable, to make him weak. The mental assault had started weeks before the opening bell rang. Using everything from superkicks to Bible verses, Shawn bested The Phenom at his own game. Yet during the match, it was not The Undertaker who had a mental collapse. It was not The Undertaker who made a stupid mistake that ended the match.

It was Shawn Michaels. One desperate, foolish moonsault ended with Shawn’s skull crashing into the canvas, and Undertaker finally pinned Michaels in the center of a ring. Since that day, Shawn has done nothing but meditate on the loss. It haunts him every second of every day. Anger and grief at the loss have seethed inside of Michaels’ heart and turned him into something ugly.

Pride had told Shawn that he needed to beat The Undertaker. Pride had told him that this need would give Shawn the strength to do what he had never done, and what many say is impossible. And it was pride that told Michaels that this loss was unacceptable. He cannot live with that result; he MUST beat The Undertaker. Yet there was a stumbling block on the road; Undertaker had nothing left to prove, no reason to face Shawn Michaels again.

Desperate men resort to desperate measures. Shawn Michaels was desperate.

But he that shall endure until the end, the same shall be saved. – Matthew 24:13

One has to admire Shawn’s perseverance. But one also has to wonder if, once again, pride has blinded him to the simple truth that The Undertaker has his number. The Deadman is bigger, stronger, and tougher than Michaels is. And this year, Shawn does not have the advantage of winning the mind games. He has no shortage of confidence, but The Undertaker has him playing into his hands. Michaels has put his career on the line for a chance to do the one thing he has never done.

Ultimately, this rivalry boils down to Shawn Michaels’ pride. It is well documented the kind of ego that Michaels has; his entire career has been marked by arrogance and conceitedness. Only two things have ever stripped Michaels of his pride and humbled him. One is the mercy of God, which has had a deep, profound, positive impact on his life. The other is the wrath of The Undertaker, which has had a deep, profound, negative impact on his life. Michaels is consumed by the need to defeat The Undertaker. If he wins, he can boast about it for the rest of his life. If he loses, the humiliation of his career ending will strip him of his pride once and for all.

It all comes down to pride. Will the pride be justified or silenced? Tonight, we find out.