Top 5 Triple H and Shawn Michaels Moments
Shawn Michaels and Triple H are two of the most legendary figures in WWE history. Their respective levels of talent, longevity, and kayfabe accomplishments give them few peers in the business. Moreover, their on-screen partnerships and rivalries, on top of their real-life friendship make them a pretty irresistible act to book together, a pair whose careers are inextricably intertwined.
At Crown Jewel, the twosome is booked to do the unlikely. Triple H is a part-time wrestler who does more in his executive role these days. Michaels hasn’t worked a match in over eight years. And yet, at this event the duo will ride again under the DX banner to work a tag team match against Thr Undertaker and Kane.
This article takes a look back through time to assess five of Triple H and HBK’s very best on-screen moments during their time working together for WWE.
#5 Final showdown at WrestleMania 20
When Shawn Michaels staged his original return to WWE after several years of retirement due to both back issues and personal matters, his opponent of choice to come back against was Triple H. The pairing made all the sense in the world given their real-life friendship, The Game’s main event status, and the fact that he was one of the safest and respected workers in the world at that time—someone HBK could fully entrust his body to, and whom he could rely on to carry the match if it turned out he couldn’t hack it anymore.
It turned out Michaels was more than capable upon his return and the duo would go on to wage war off and on for over a year and half. Finally, the stage was set for them to blow off their issue at WrestleMania 20, only for Chris Benoit to hop brands and cash-in his Royal Rumble world title shot against The Cerebral Assassin.
The triple threat to follow was an instant classic, but one of its finest moments arrived after Benoit had been taken out outside of the ring. Triple H stood on the outside, while a bloodied Michaels stood in the middle of the ring, signaling that it was time for their final one on one battle. The moment was positively electric, befitting a historic rivalry and the WrestleMania main event setting. Too often, history brushes over this climax, in the effort to erase Benoit—the eventual winner of the match—from WWE history. Still, the moments stand out.