[2005-05-02-WWE-Raw] Shawn Michaels vs Shelton Benjamin

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[fxnj]

Watched this trying to determine why people hate post-comeback Michaels and I'm still confused on that. The beginning of this match with them doing amateur wrestling is some great stuff. Such a uniquely Michaels for him to try to outwrestle an amateur champion in the prime of his career. He gets schooled like you'd expect and I love how he sells the frustration on the rope breaks. He tries to shift into more pro-style stuff like headlocks and armdrags but again gets upstaged by his younger and more athletic opponent until he just cheap shots Benjamin with a hard forearm. The match loses a bit of its initial charm after that as it becomes more of a workrate sprint, but it's still entertaining stuff with Michaels taking some big bumps. Benjamin gets a good opportunity to showcase his athleticism, especially when he counters the superkick into a nice looking jumping spinkick. The finish is famous with the younger Benjamin taking an unecesssary risk going to some springboard move and paying dearly for it when Michaels catches him with the superkick mid-air. Honestly, I expected to get bored and turn the match off half-way through, but the match kept my attention the whole way really feels like it's about as good of a TV match as you could expect from WWE at this point. Great example of getting a guy over in losing as well. Benjamin really comes across here like he belongs in the main event scene and it really feels like he could have won if he didn't take that risk at the end. ***3/4

[cactus]

Yeah, this is a the match with the iconic springboard to superkick spot, but the whole match is well worth your time. Starting off with some excellent amateur exchanges, Shelton really shines when he's showing off his athleticism. He also hits a dragon whip counter that would make Kawada blush. Probably his best performance ever. 

★★★¾

[Superstar Sleeze]

Shawn Michaels vs Shelton Benjamin - WWE RAW 5/2/05

My brother was over and wanted to watch some nostalgia wrestling from when he was a kid. Shawn Michaels & Shelton Benjamin are his two favorites so this popped to mind and it has been something I have been meaning to watch forever since I had not watched it since it happened. We found out it was in Boston. My Dad really dropped the ball. I would have been almost 16 at the time of this, but I was not going at following along where they were going. I probably was shocked that day to find out they were in Boston. I am bummed now because this match ruled. 

Classic Shawn here trying to outwrestle the amateur wrestler. Shawn was really good at throwing in wrestling in a lot of different matches. He would have been excellent in New Japan with their opening 5 minutes of chaining in every match. Shelton shows him up and Shawn sells this well. This was a really good babyface shine to let everyone know that Shelton could not just hang but best Shawn and that you should invest in the idea that he could win. I thought Shawn gave Shelton a lot like the Samoan Drop, an excellent Leg Whip Heel Kick and that Insane Jumping Top Rope Reverse Crossbody. Was that a regular highspot for Shelton because that was insane! Shawn did a good Misawa-style comeback. Working the Flying Burrito, Kip Up, Elbow Drop and Sweet Chin Music, but expanding it and letting Shelton fill in the gaps. Each of the highspots landed really big and popped the crowd because they were given time to breathe. The Springboard directly into the Sweet Chin Music is one of the few iconic images that has lasted from this era. The 80s and 90s Vince was so good at drilling those iconic moments in our head. The 21st Century is has been very in one ear out the other. That finish still rocks and is remembered to this day. The whole match rocked. They really should have given Shelton Benjamin a bona-fide shot. ****

[ohtani's jacket]

Wow, that was a hell of a finish. If you're going to put Michaels over your IC champ on TV then that's the way to do it. Really good match. That shouldn't come as a surprise given Benjamin's performance from the night before as well as the spate of good TV matches Michaels has had since the Smackdown guys jumped to RAW. It's also not a surprise that Michaels could have this sort of match with Benjamin as he had that amazing match with Angle. What really impressed me here were Shelton's kicks. Good lord were they flush. Not sure how I'm gonna feel about what creative have in store for him.