[2008-05-18-WWE-Judgment Day] Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho - Judgment Day 2008

 

Tremendous match again. The storyline played out a little different than I remembered and I loved it. So Chris Jericho calls bullshit on the knee injury that Shawn Michaels "sustained" in his match against Batista. Shawn Michaels keeps up the charade long enough to actually convince Jericho that Michaels is "truly injured". Jericho is willing to call this match off on the RAW before this PPV out of respect for Michaels. Michaels tells Jericho he was right all long and he feigned the knee injury to win the match against Batista. Jericho is incredulous. He refuses to believe Michaels. Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music and then acrobatically leaves the ring to prove his knee is fine.

 

Brilliant! Credibility and trust mean so much in this world. Jericho is totally befuddled now in what to believe. When you mess with a man's ability to discern the difference between reality and illusion you truly destroy his sense of trust and understanding of the world. This was the perfect impetus for Jericho completely reinventing himself as a man who is obsessed with honesty because he truly no longer knows what to believe. Brilliant!

 

Nominally this is face vs face remember because Jericho has not officially turned heel yet. Jericho is also Intercontinental Champion, which I totally forgot about, but the title is not on the line. I love the beginning because it starts with Jericho targets the leg like he still cant believe that Michaels is NOT injured. I love this. It also gives a chance to Michaels to prove he is totally fine. They do some great face vs face workrate wrestling at the beginning. When Jericho goes for the leg again, Michaels slaps the taste out of his mouth. Draws a little blood too. Michaels has a great shit-eating grin on. Now it is on! Jericho hits a hard back elbow to escape a waistlock as a receipt. Michaels targets the left arm using that same hanging armbar over the ropes that I loved. Michaels does a great job beating the shit out of the arm. I love Jericho fighting back at the same time. Struggle! Michaels goes for the top elbow early, but Jericho gets the knees up and Michaels injures his ribs. I have complained in the past about Jericho's issue with control segments. No such complaints here. He was vicious and laser focused on the ribs. Ab stretch (beating on the ribs with punches too in the hold), punts to the ribs and a great gutbuster. Jericho is vicious and angry. Love this. Jericho is throwing Shawn around. Shawn shoves Jericho off on the bulldog sending him hard into the buckles. Flying burrito...kip up...rib selling...Walls of Jericho! Perfect targeting for the ribs. Great selling from Michaels. Great spot...Jericho goes for his springboard dropkick but Michaels moves, Jericho lands on apron...BANG! Sweet Chin Music. One of the best hope spots ever. Exactly what Michaels needed to get himself back in this match. Michaels has been great at setting up these momentum changes. Michaels only gets two because it takes too much to get him back in. Michaels does a top rope elbow, his ribs be damned, and he sells it great. Michaels tunes up the band, but Jericho keeps falling down repeatedly much to the frustration of Michaels. Finally he gets up, CODEBREAKER! If that was the finish, I would rate this through the moon. That would have been a great mirror finish to the Shawn vs Batista match. I marked out so hard for that spot. Michaels gets the Crossface, which does not really fit in the match. Jericho hits these fucking awesome kneelifts and then hangs Shawn out to dry on the ropes. Awesome, awesome. Lionsault, Shawn gets his knees up, Jericho STOPS SHORT! Walls of Jericho, Michaels wriggles into the cover, 1-2-3!

 

I think they wanted Michaels to win to further the Chris Jericho snapping and then heel turn. But goddamn that Codebreaker with the mirror symmetry would have been glorious. Jericho looked awesome here. The best he has ever looked on offense in my opinion. Shawn selling the ribs was great. Another spectacular match. ****1/4