[2005-09-18-WWE-Unforgiven] Shawn Michaels vs Chris Masters

[Superstar Sleeze]

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Masters - WWE Unforgiven 2005

 

For some reason, Shawn was motivated to give a tremendous performance and Masters was awesome as a power heel. I have heard the wild stories of Chris Masters the awesome C-show babyface, but here he proves his mettle working on top with power. In retrospect, the Masterlock challenge is something I would like even though as a teenager I thought it was lame. Michaels failed in breaking the Full Nelson twice on RAW. To my recollection, this was Masters only serious brush with a top level talent as he was shunted down the card in short order and never really re-pushed. Masters is only six years older than me. Weird.

 

Loved Masters jumping HBK before the bell and applying the Masterlock, but he had to let go because the bell had not rung yet! Awesome! Hot start but logical reason for Masters to release hold. Of course, Masters goes right back to the hold, but HBk wriggles free. So then HBK fires up and really lets Masters have it. I thought Michaels did a great job being a fiery babyface and giving Master no quarter. Michaels went for a chair and the ref took it away allowing Masters to drive Michael's head into the barricade. The big turning point was two smashes back first into the ringpost in the powerbomb position. The subsequent back work was so tight by Masters everything was focused on the back and Michaels was selling the hell out of everything. I thought both were working together in perfect synchronicity during the heat segment. I love stuff that while Masters has him in a backbreaker, Michaels is punching his nose to break the hold. Then great cutoff with Masters turning a Crucifix into a Masterlock attempt and then into a good flip back bump into corner. TORTURE RACK~! MARK OUT CITY~! Great stuff. Masters calls for Masterlock, but Michaels desperately clutches the ref and low bridges Masters with the trick knee. Great veteran guile from Shawn there. Classic Shawn comeback, but Superkick turns into the Masterlock. Great desperation from Shawn to fight it and eventually makes it over the ropes. Masters goes for it again and BANG! Sweet Chin Music!

 

If you asked me how I expected this match to go exactly as expected and exactly how I call it. I thought the beginning was a nice touch did not expect that to be honest. Got things hot. Thought Shawn's shine was great. Thought heat segment was even better, perfect harmony between those two. The low bridge was a good transition made the Masterlock look awesome. Shawn comeback with Sweet Chin Music reversed into Masterlock, great struggle there. The finish I would call the Masterlock attempt into a Superkick outta nowhere. Even if it is predictable, they did a great job in execution with strong transitions and I thought Masters looked great in defeat. Awesome veteran vs rookie match in the midcard. ****

 

[DMJ]

Yes, this was an undeniably great match. I wasn't expecting much because this isn't necessarily a match that gets talked about and, as I was only just starting to come back to my fandom in the summer of 05', I wasn't aware of any sort of "buzz" around this.

I'm guessing, at the time, this was considered some sort of Shawn Michaels "carry job," but its not. Masters bumps with gusto, executes the basic things well, has great facial expressions, and never looks lost or gassed even as they work through some tight sequences. The story is simple-but-effective and, as the OP stated, Michaels looks particularly motivated to "make" Chris Masters. Its almost like watching Flair vs. a young Sting or Luger (with the face/heel roles reversed) as Michaels unselfishly makes the Master Lock look like the most devastating finisher ever in 3 separate instances (before the bell, having to escape it with an uncharacteristic mule kick to the balls, and then, ultimately, having to escape it by kicking his way over the top rope). 

Sadly, in hindsight, a match that should've put Masters on the fast-track to the main event scene and served as a start to a great run actually ended up being his career peak. To this day the WWE makes this same mistake with countless guys. They'll give someone the spotlight, have them shine even in a loss (think Keith Lee at last year's Survivor Series),  and then immediately ice them with the false notion that they can reheat them anytime. Regardless, this is a really good match and going 4-stars on it is not at all an exaggeration. Worth watching.