Wrestlemania 10 Ladder Match Did Not Make Shawn Michaels

[RIPbossman]

A lot of people credit the WrestleMania 10 ladder match as "making" Shawn Michaels. I disagree with this.

It was a great match, but look where Shawn was in the months that followed WrestleMania 10. He was pretty much in Diesel's shadow. I don't remember him wrestling much for a while, outside of a great Raw match with Razor. I don't know if he was injured, but when he and Diesel started teaming together, Diesel got much more spotlight, Imo. Shawn still felt like he was in the same spot he was in before WM 10.

I can't speak for everyone, but Shawn seemed out of place winning the Royal Rumble in 1995. I think he mostly got the WM match with Diesel because he had a built in storyline, similar to how Owen had a main event program when Bret was champion. Shawn felt out of place competing for the title at Wrestlemania at the time, and for what its worth, their match did not go on last.

In the months after the WM 11 match, Shawn was Intercontinental champion again, pretty much in the same spot he was in before WM 10, only with much more momentum.

Shawn did become a made star, but it was well after the WM 10 ladder match.

 

[James flagg]

He was a rising star starting with the sweet chin music at the barber shop. He was putting on great singles matches. I think him with diesel was more about helping build diesel. Wrestlemania 12 cemented him as a main event star... in my opinion..

 

[HeenanGorilla]

I wasn’t a Shawn fan, but I’ve always thought the WMX Ladder Match was overrated. Mostly because the SummerSlam 95 match was much better. Shawn was an all-time talent but never THE guy to lead WWE.

 

[FromGlasgowScotland]

It was a great match and was was one of my all time favourite matches. At the time I had never seen any match like that before, I have never considered this match to have made Shawn Michaels and never heard anyone else say this as Shawn had many great moments up until his first world title win. I guess it helped rather than hurt him but to be honest I think he would still have found his way to the top if this match had never happened. I believe if he was starting out today he would get to the top a lot quicker as the roster was so strong back in the day when he first arrived in the WWF.

 

[TheWrestlingSage]

To me it was his second royal rumble victory, from that point forward it really started to feel like he was mainevent level. Where as before he came off like Dolph does today, a credible worker that is close to but not quite mainevent.

 

[Bernard de Hattrix]

WrestleMania X didn't so much make Shawn Michaels...I think it would be more accurate to say that the WrestleMania ladder match established Michaels as a phenomenal worker. Of course, he had had great matches before, and he had previously been intercontinental champion, but WrestleMania X was the moment Michaels was first recognized as not merely a great worker, but the kind of phenomenal worker that only manifests every so often.

 

[relentless1]

HBK was a great worker but he never really struck me as Main Event honestly until 1997, until DX. Before that he was overshadowed by events out of his control (nWo) and Vince made the same mistake with him in 96 that he did with Diesel in the year before by trying to paint him as a white meat babyface. Not until his real life situation unfolded with Bret and Vince finally allowed the boys to be themselves did he actually feel like a main event heel to me. So to answer your question no, WMX didn't make his career, he was a tier below Bret and several below Hogan and Savage before him until Attitude started with him at the forefront in 1997.

 

[HBKperfect23]

The ladder match at WMX made Shawn in the sense that they now know he could deliver a big time match on a big stage. I compare to Bret at Summerslam 92. Although Bret had his main event push a lot sooner after his "made" match. You could also argue Shawn "made" match was the following year at WMXI when he carried Diesel to the match of the year.

The moment you could tell Shawn was being pushed to the moon was when they teased the retirement angle. For me, if I had to pinpoint a moment when I knew they were going with Shawn, it was when they did the interview via satellite around Survivor Series 95 with him and Jose. They asked Shawn about retiring without ever becoming championed Shawn got up and walked out. You could see the angle starting to play out.

 

[Hitman80]

It probably helped cement Michaels as a future top star. I would argue it was the match against Diesel at WM11 that helped kick start his momentum though.

 

[Makaveli31]

The Ladder Match was make or break for Shawn Michaels in terms of main event material. He was given the singles shove after the break up of the Rockers but despite the massive hype (including a run with the I-C strap) he had failed to deliver the "showstopping" match that we had come to expect.

He had OK matches with Bulldog and Bret but nothing to write home about. Then came the much anticipated feud with Jannetty that was supposed to tear the house down at Rumble '93 but instead both came in hungover and delivered a dud. We all know the story about Shawn throwing Marty under the bus but when the truth came out he was forced to job to Marty as punishment. The feud never lived up to expectations. Then he had a run with Mr. Perfect. Everyone was expecting a repeat of Hennig vs Hart but Shawn was extremely overweight, Hennig's back was hurt and the match sucked. Vince's patience with Shawn's antics were wearing thin and Shawn was suspended for testing positive for drugs.

Meanwhile Shawn was getting passed up by Bret, Lex, and Scott Hall. Shawn needed something big to put his name back in a positive light and not in the "fuck up" category and that's where the Ladder Match came into play. What Shawn displayed that night was pure athleticism that was unseen in pro wrestling. The pace of the match was fast and furious. Shawn was pulling out all the stops. Baseball slides, high flying maneuvers off the ladder, Shawn took tremendous punishment during the match. In the end, eventhough Razor had won we all talked about Shawn Michaels. He had hi-jacked WrestleMania 10. To me, it was Shawn at his pure best.

 

[Heisenberg]

His performance at the 1995 Royal Rumble going from #1 to winning "made" Shawn if you ask me. Everyone knew he could work. He worked Bret for the World Title at Survivor Series 1992 in a supremely underrated match. He had previous IC runs. One of the most memorable turns in history, still to this day. Vince knew Shawn was a star from the moment he decided to break up The Rockers. Late 92 he's wrestling for the World Title on PPV at a time when they only had 4 a year. I think the Ladder Match at X is what made Shawn "Mr. WrestleMania" because from that point forward he would steal the show every damn time he performed. Also, Hall was solid in the ring, but Shawn made him look awesome. I think Vince knew he had money then, a guy who can work the bodies and not make them look slow and lumbering. His first World Title win in the Iron Man Match at XII is what I would call his "career defining" match at this point in retrospect. Only because of the "Boyhood Dream" aspect coming full circle, and was passed the torch as THE GUY from Bret Hart.... Post-comeback Shawn from 2002 on had matches that rival anything he did in his first run, notably Angle at WM21, the street fight return match vs HHH at SS 02, Ladder Match with Jericho, and of course, the 2 epic Taker matches to end his amazing career.