A brief history of Terry Funk's retirements on the 38th anniversary of his first one.

On August 31^st 1983 in Tokyo Japan, Terry Funk announced his retirement from professional wrestling for the first of many, many times. On this night, he and his brother Dory Funk jr. competed in an All Japan ring against Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy, in what he intended to be his retirement match.

To put this into some kind of context, in the same year Return of the Jedi was the highest grossing film, Thriller by Michael Jackson was the top album of that year, and one week after Funk retired, Braun Strowman was born. Despite this retirement match, Funk would continue to control his narrative for the next 34 years. Terry’s first documented match was in 1965, so he had been going for 18 years, but with any more matches seeming unlikely due to his health, his eventual last match would occur in 2017 making his career 52 years long.

The best source I could find lists 7 official retirement matches, not including his actual last match as it wasn’t advertised as such. This also doesn’t include the many times Funk would cut a promo announcing he would be stepping away but not mention retirement, one such being at WWF Fully Loaded 1998, when he announced pre his tag team match with partner Blackjack Bradshaw that he would be stepping away, apparently not informing Bradshaw who was angered and turned on Funk as a result.

Retirement number one would occur in All Japan in 1983, but would last about 14 months, as he would again team with Dory, this time going to a double DQ with the Road Warriors for the AWA tag team titles.

Number two would happen in at WCW’s Clash of the Champions 9 event in November 1989. This time was an “I Quit” match against Ric Flair in a match rated 5 stars by the Wrestling Observer. Following this match Funk would return 10 months later in an independent match against Jerry Lawler that would go to a no contest.

Number three would take place in September 1997, at an independent event named 50 years of Funk in his famed hometown of Amarillo Texas. This event featured talent from many various promotions held together by the respect Terry had earned throughout his time in the business. In the main event Bret Hart who was WWF Champion at the time defeated Terry in a four star rated match. The only reason I mention this is that his last one was five stars if you keep track of that kind of thing…. The card featured many WWF and ECW stars, notably Mankind defeating ECW’s Sabu and Dory Funk Jr defeating Rob Van Dam. Post Terry’s match he stated that this would be the last time he would perform in Amarillo, but not even this would be true, as in 2000 he would wrestle Lance Storm in the same city on a WCW house show. Retirement number three would last just 11 days, as Funk would go on a tour with FMW in Japan and return to the WWE by the end of the year. Funk had a decent run in WWE teaming first with Cactus Jack as Chainsaw Charlie, then later teaming with Bradshaw as mentioned earlier.

It’s worth noting also that between 1989 and 1997, Terry would build his reputation as a death match wrestler. He was known for hardcore brawls before this, but these years included the FMW matches with a young Cactus Jack, as well as his famed ECW tenure, not to mention his famous exploding barbed wire death match with Onita in May of 1993, the clear inspiration for the Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley match in 2021. As crazy as this is to say, Funk probably did more damage to his body in these years than any other period of his career.

Following a return to ECW Terrys fourth retirement would occur in June 1999 at an event called AWF One last Dance. His opponent on this night would be Sabu, and Funk won the match. By November Terry would be back in the ring, this time teaming with Dory again for the FMW tenth anniversary event. 

Terry would return to WCW in January 2000 originally in an authority figure role, but after a terrible talking segment with the 2000 version of the NWO, (the worst kind of NWO), he would be back in the ring by the end of the month losing his commissionership to Kevin Nash.

From here Funk would become a key player in WCW’s dwindling Hardcore division for a few months. His fifth retirement would occur in 2005, where he and Dory would lose at an independent show to the NWA tag team champions at the time, Americas Most Wanted. Dory has featured in a few matches I’ve mentioned matches so far, so I’ll take this time to mention that he wrestled over 3000 documented matches in his career, starting in 1963 and ending in 2018, meaning his in ring career is 3 years longer than Terry’s. This retirement would last four and a bit months, as he would return to wrestle Sabu and Shane Douglas at Hardcore Homecoming, and ECW tribute event promoted by Douglas to counter WWE’s One Night Stand pay per view, in a barbed wire match no less.

Now we get to retirement number six, as Funk would lose to Tommy Dreamer at AWE’s Night of the Legends pay per view in 2011. Gone are the days of Terry Funk retirement matches being the main event, this one was third on the card, which was main evented by Ricky Morton defeating Kevin Nash, which sounds like an odd pairing. Terry would return to action two years later, teaming with Dory in All Japan. Are you noticing a pattern yet?

Retirement match number 7 occurred in 2015, and was a loss against Jerry Lawler on a show held in tribute to legendary Memphis commentator Lance Russell. The only other notable names on this card were the rock and roll express, and the rest of the card looks like it was built using the NXT name generator.  Funk might have been the main event, but the events were getting smaller by this point.

Terry Funk’s final match ended up being a six man tag with him teaming with the rock and roll express to defeat Jerry Lawler, Brian Christopher and Doug Gilbert, the brother of Southern legend Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert. It wasn’t officially billed as a retirement match so it’s not technically part of the list, but it is likely the end of Terry Funks legendary in ring career. Despite the trivial tone of this video so far, I want to end with a moment to show respect and wish nothing but the best for a true icon of US and Japanese wrestling.

WWE Summerslam 1992: Bret Hart vs British Bulldog, Savage vs Ultimate Warrior and more.

On August 29th 1992 WWE presented Summerslam from Wembley Stadium. With a live attendance of just over 80,000 fans, at the time of writing this is the largest non-Wrestlemania crowd WWE ever had, and fifth overall. 

In October 1989 WWE promoted their first ever event in the UK at the London Arena. The show was called UK Rampage which aired live on Sky TV, and was an annual event for a few years, with the first one main evented by Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan. That match is part of the WWE networks recent compilation of the best UK matches ever. From there WWE gained in popularity over the years, so much so that Summerslam which was originally planned to come from Washington DC, was moved not just to England, but the giant Wembley Stadium, whose maximum capacity was 82,000.

In a rare change of the format the main event would feature the Intercontinental championship, as the English born Davey Boy Smith would challenge the champion Bret Hart, but I'll talk more about that match later. In the semi main event the WWF champion Randy Savage defended his title against the Ultimate Warrior. This was a rematch from their epic clash at Wrestlemania 7, but wouldn't come close to stealing the show as they did in the first match, thanks in part to the convoluted story going in.

At Wrestlemania 8, Randy Savage had won the WWE championship for the second time defeating Ric Flair. The Nature Boy's strategy going into the match was to play mind games with Savage, presenting fake photographs of himself chilling poolside with Savages wife, Elizabeth. Flair promised once he won at Wrestlemania that he would reveal more pictures of Liz, but Savage put a stop to that by dethroning him. Going into Summerslam Flair and his cohort Mr. Perfect weren't done with the mind games. Over the weeks leading up to Summerslam, Flair claimed that either Savage or Warrior had hired the services of Mr. Perfect to interfere in the match in their favour, but wouldn't reveal which. He claimed we would find out at Summerslam, but both men denied brokering any kind of deal. This served to create more tension between Savage and Warrior, as both believed the other had hired Curt Hennig, when in truth neither had and Flair was turning them against each other. He was doing it out of jealousy for not being announced the number one contender himself. In a pre match interview with Gene Okerlund Flair again refused to say whose side Mr. Perfect would be on.

What followed was a 28 minute clash not quite as good as their Wrestlemania match. Near the end Warrior hits his press slam and goes to hit his finishing splash off the ropes, when Flair hits him in the back with a chair, which Savage doesn't see. All he sees when he gets to his feet is the Warrior down on the mat. Savage climbs the ropes to hit his Elbow drop, but instead decides to leap towards Flair, who clips him in the knee with the chair on the way down. Savage fails to beat the referees count, and therefore loses the match but not the title, but in the process it is clear that Flair and Perfect were on the side of neither man. Flair attempts to finish Savage, but Warrior runs him and Mr. Perfect off. He then presents Macho Man with his championship, and helps him up to his feet as the two heroes show each other respect.

Elsewhere on this show Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel fought in a match with a unique stipulation. Both men were fighting over the affection of Sensational Sherri, who demanded that in the match neither could hit the other in the face. The reason for this was that the Model and the Heartbreak Kid both prided themselves on their looks, and therefore neither could alter the facial features of the other. The match ended in a double count out, with both men fighting over being the one to carry a lifeless Sherri to the back. Let me explain a bit here, after about 8 minutes both men slap each other in the face, and to prevent anymore of this, Sherri who is on the apron fakes fainting, and both men rush to her aid, taking turns in carrying her up the long Wembley walkway. One hilarious detail is that when Martel carries Sherri, he holds her in a respectful manner, whereas when it's Shawn turn he throws her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Shawn and Sherri had been paired together in February of 1992. The dynamic between this was always that Sherri loved Shawn, but Shawn only really loved Shawn. This was the early version of the Heartbreak Kid persona he would perfect through the 90's following his split with Marty Jannetty. The iconic theme music Shawn Michaels has used to this day now has long had his own voice performing the vocals, but the original version composed by Jimmy Hart has the same lyrics but with Sherri's voice. This was played on years later when Kurt angle was taunting Michaels pre-Wrestlemania, when he invited Sherri back to perform the not legendary parody known as 'Sexy Kurt'. Shawn has said in many interviews and his autobiography that he was hesitant about being put with Sherri in the beginning, but often praises her for the affect she had on his career at the time.

In a strangely placed match between the WWE championship and the main event, the Undertaker defeated Kamala in a three minute match. The reason this is notable is that if you have ever seen the clip of Undertaker arriving into an arena on the back of a hearse, its from this night. Being an open air show in Summer the venue looks very different as the evening progresses, being daylight at the start and dark once the night sets in. This is likely why this match occurs so late in the card, as Takers entrance might have looked strange in broad daylight. Undertaker at this point was only a couple of years into his legendary WWE run, and now along with his manager Paul Bearer was quickly becoming one of the most popular WWE stars, despite entering as a feared villain.

Given the length of the enormous entrance walkway, and the trademark slowness of the Undertakers entrance, I'm glad they thought of him riding on the back of a hearse as if he had walked to the ring he might not have made it by Wrestlemania 9. Undertaker made short work of the Ugandan Giant, before moving on to his famously terrible Mania match with Giant Gonzales. Given what we know now, I wonder if Undertaker wishes the Kamala feud lasted a few months longer...

By 1992 the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith was a popular fixture of the WWE's midcard as a solo act following his split from Dynamite Kid. He had also become a main eventer on WWE's UK events, winning the Battle Royal at the Albert Hall in 1991, and defeating IRS to close out another UK Rampage earlier in 92. This time Bulldog would face his biggest test yet, challenging Intercontinental Champion, and his own brother in law, Bret Hart.

By this time Bret Hart was enjoying a second lengthy reign as Intercontinental champion. He had held the title almost continuously since August of 91, losing it to the Mountie due to illness then winning it back from Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania 8. It would soon be time for Bret to ascent from the workhouse title however, as in October of 92 he would defeat Ric Flair for his first of five world championships. There was just the matter of Bret having to drop the IC title first, so he did the honours for the British Bulldog in front of his fellow countrymen.

I mentioned before that Bret and Bulldog were brothers in law. Thats is because at the time Davey was married to Diana Hart, Bret's sister. Right before the match Diana is interviewed by Sean Mooney in the crowd, and is given the lofty task of selling the drama of the match, as she represented a division in the family that this match had created. Throughout the match there are camera cuts to Diana sitting in the crowd watching as a reminder that we were seeing family members battling over a prestigious prize. After the match Diana enters the ring and celebrates with both men, who shake hands, as a way of closing this story with the family is back together. This was of course just a storyline to build up the drama of the match, but more Harts would become involved later when Bret feuded with his brother Owen.

I'd be remiss is I didn't mention the opening video for the event, in which fans were asked to read lines about wrestlers on the show. One young fan said "the British Bulldog is gonna win, whether he wants to or not." Had social media been a thing at the time, this would likely have gone viral. In 2020, 28 years later,  the kid in the clip was found. I won't identify her in case I shouldn't, but she described that day as one of the best in her life, so hopefully she sees the funny side of that clip being remembered.

The Bulldog enters first to his trademark Rule Britannia music, led by London born Boxing champion Lennox Lewis. Across the crowd are Union Jacks and signs of support for the Bulldog. While there were boos upon the champions arrival, Bret had his share of fans too. In the later years of Brets WWE career the idea of him being a hero in Canada and a villain in the US was based on how popular Bret was not just in Canada, but everywhere else WWE went to internationally, especially the UK. By the time the opening bell rings, this intercontinental title main event has a special big fight feel.

One of the more memorable moments in this 25 minute main event was Bret Hart applying the Sharpshooter from his back. Both men are laying on the mat when Bret starts to configure their legs into position, he then rolls over and managed to stand up, locking Bulldog in the hold. Bret might have done this in other matches, but I don't remember ever seeing any other time, and the crowd reaction is amazing when Bret manages to complete the hold. *Editing note: Bret did this same move at Summerslam 1991, and likely more times than that.*

Following Bulldog making to the ropes to break the Sharpshooter, Bret makes a critical mistake. He hits the ropes and attempts a sunset flip, only for Bulldog to catch him in a flash pin, and win the championship as the crowd roars in approval. A flash pin is usually done to remind fans that a pinfall can occur at any time, and in this very evenly wrestled match it was the perfect choice for a finish. I just can't imagine Bulldog winning decisively with his running Powerslam having the same explosive reaction from the crowd. Following Bulldogs win Vince McMahon on commentary calls it one of the greatest wrestling matches ever, meaning that he does in fact know it when he sees it. Bulldog doesn't celebrate and his music doesn't play as Bret sits in the ring looking bitter. Bulldog offers a handshake,  and Bret teases leaving before coming back and celebrating with the new champion. I might be a little biased having seen this match dozens of times over the years, but to me this match is a classic.

Despite mine and many other fans' warm memories of this match, Bret Hart has expressed a different opinion in various interviews. Speaking to Inside the Ropes he recently claimed that by the time he got back to the locker room most everyone had left to get to the hotel, and thus didn't see him and Davey steal the show. He has also on record stated that due to his abuse of certain substances, Bulldog had forgotten the entire plan for the match, so Bret had to lead him through it. There are brief moments where knowing this you can tell Bulldog looks a little lost, but other than that Bulldog doesn't seem to miss a step at all. Bret's WWE career is littered with esteem-able performances, but this night might have been the British Bulldogs finest hour.

Triple H wins the WWE Championship for the first time - WWE Raw August 23rd 1999

This post is the script for a video on my YouTube channel. You can find the video version here: https://youtu.be/TS4nuY85Mi4

On August 23^rd 1999 WWE presented Raw from Ames Iowa, one night after the the 11^th Summerslam event. On this night Triple H would win the WWE championship for the first of fourteen world title reigns, cementing himself in the main event scene in the process, but there is a month of backstory that got Triple H to this night.

On the July 25^th episode of Sunday night Heat prior to the Fully Loaded pay per view, Jim Ross conducts a backstage interview with Helmsley. In it Triple H blurs the lines between storyline and reality, when he talks about the infamous Curtain Call from 1996, where he and his kliq friends celebrated in Madison Square Garden on Scott Hall and Kevin Nashs last night in the company. With them both leaving and Shawn Michaels being the WWE champion at the time, Triple H was the one punished. He was due to win the 1996 King of the Ring but didn’t, which ended up changing Steve Austins career for the better, and spent the next year floating in the lower card. Triple H talked about this candidly in the interview in a way fans weren’t used to seeing at the time, telling JR that he is going to shoot about his feelings on the matter. He rants about being punished for that, and rages against management in general before the line that changed his character. “You guys talk about being students of the game? I am the fucking Game JR. There is nobody who eats, sleeps and breathes this business more than me, and now its my time to prove that to the world. Summerslam is my time to take what is mine, and that is becoming the WWF champion” 

Over the following episodes of Raw, there would be various changes in who was the number

one contender set to challenge for Steve Austins WWE Championship. For a few weeks it even looked like Chyna had earned the contendership having defeated Triple H and Undertaker in a three way match, thanks to the interference of Steve Austin and referee Shawn Michaels. She next retained contendership by again beating Triple H again thanks to interference, but was then was defeated by Mankind, who went to a draw with Triple H. This resulted in a three way match being booked, with Austin defending against both Helmsley and Mankind.

This match was also special as it was to be refereed by legendary wrestler turned commentator turned politician, Jesse the Body Ventura. In 1998 Ventura had won his elected role as governor of Minnesota. In an unrelated movie fact, five years later his Predator and Running man co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger would become governator of California. Prior to this Ventura had left WWE on bad terms in the early 90’s. He then later became one of a few people in history to successfully sue the WWE and win, over royalties he believed he was due for his commentary appearing on home video releases. For a time his commentary was edited off so as not to have to pay him as much, but thankfully his commentary is back on the shows he worked.

At Summerslam 99, Steve Austin would lose the WWE championship cleanly to Mankind. For many years the prevailing rumour was that Steve Austin refused to lose to Triple H, not seeing him as championship material. Given that Austin would lose in a title match to Triple H at No Mercy months later, and again to end their feud at No Way Out 2001, and after that go on to team up with him as the two man power trip, I never thought this had much validity, and both Austin and Triple H have denied it also. Another rumour that feels more plausible, is that as an elected official, Jesse Ventura refused to put a heel over, and so counted the pin for Mankind, allowing Triple H to win the next night. This would be Mankinds third and final reign as WWE champion, and his three combined reigns add up to just 28 days.

One thing that is clear about this ending is that Steve Austin was likely supposed to lose the

title whoever was going to beat him. Austin had been dealing with nagging injuries for a long time at this point, and would have two months off from in ring action after this match. In storyline he was written off post match, as Triple H decided to take his frustrations out on him by injuring his leg, repeatedly hitting it with with a chair. Austin would have a few more televised matches until Survivor Series, where he was written out again by a hit and run attack, this time for nearly a year.

Throughout the night segments were shown of Ventura going over the rules of the match with all three men, establishing that he was taking his referee job seriously, and wouldn’t abide rule breaking. Crucially for what happens later, Jesse makes it clear he won’t abide the use of weapons. This led to a moment during the match where Triple H blatantly uses a chair as a weapon in front of Ventura. While this isn’t illegal technically, as triple threat matches traditionally have no disqualifications, its still cheating, so Jesse refuses to count the pin. In the end, Triple H didn’t win at Summerslam as he promised to, because of his own actions, but he would get another shot on Raw the next night, because of his own actions.

The August 23^rd Raw opened with Jim Ross conducting another interview with The Game, this time in the ring, and this time with horrible consequences for JR. On January 4^th 1999, Mankind coaxed the Rock into a title match that he would eventually win by threatening to break the arm of Shane McMahon until he got what he wanted. On this night, Triple H would use the same strategy, with JR being the innocent victim this time. This difference here, is that after Mankind agreed to defend the title against Triple H, he broke JR’s arm anyway, sending him out of the arena in an ambulance. Jim Ross would be replaced for the rest of the night by Michael Cole, and The Rock joins them for the main event.

On this episode of Raw seven matches happened, six of which were less than five five minutes long, and the main event would last nearly 9, typical of wrestling in the attitude era and strange to look back on by todays standards. After the Rock makes his entrance, Shane

McMahon enters, wearing a referee shirt. As soon as the champion Mankind enters the ring the action kicks off, with Triple H desperate to achieve his destiny. The two go at it while the Rock complains about his placement on the card having defeated Billy Gunn at Summerslam the previous night. Much like Jesse Ventura refused to count for Triple H at Summerslam, Shane refuses to count for Mankind, leading him to take Shane out with a Mandible Claw. He then applies the claw on Helmsley, but before a ref can come out, Chyna does, and gets a mandible claw from Mankind also. After hitting Mankind with a sickening looking unprotected chair shot, Triple H turns the chair to The Rock, blasting him out of his seat. With Shane back in the match, Triple H hits the pedigree in the middle of the ring, and Shane counts the three. In another call back to Mankinds WWF title win in January, back then Michael Cole exclaimed that “Mick Foley has achieved his dream, and the dream of every one who has been told, you can’t do it.” On this night, Jerry Lawler shouts that “Triple H has realised his dream, and its all about Triple H.”

The first of many world title reigns for Triple H would only end up lasting 22 days, as he would lose the championship on an early episode of Smackdown to of all people, Vince McMahon, in a storyline for another day. He would regain the championship a week later at Unforgiven in a six pack challenge beating five other contenders. Who was the man who was forced to count the three for this win? Special guest enforcer, Stone Cold Steve Austin, leading to their match at No Mercy the following month. By the end of 1999 Triple H was solidly a main event star, leading the WWE into one of its hottest years ever.

Where are we going with the All Out main event?

I missed Dynamite this week, so when I saw they were promoting Punk vs Moxley for next weeks show, I assumed I was seeing some kind of prank. There is a guy on Twitter who does really convincing looking graphics, and he's got me a few times in the past. If I knew who they were I'd plug their twitter here but I don't. Turns out I wasn't looking at a joke, AEW are genuinely doing arguably the biggest match they have available to them on free television instead of pay per view. That in itself doesn't bother me at all since they have done a fair few massive matches on free tv in the past. Bryan Danielson vs Kenny Omega to name one. Given how I am a Fite TV subscriber and I pay for Dynamite anyway, I'm not complaining about it. I am wondering what this means for All Out in a couple of weeks though.

My first thought once I realised they were really doing this is that they will do some kind of finish leading to a stipulation rematch at All Out. That to me feels like the most likely reason, as Tony probably wants to put a gimmick on the PPV match, but can't without something leading to the gimmick. My second thought was they might go to a time limit draw as they have done this before with Danielson and Hangman. At the time of me writing this they haven't announced much for Dynamite, so if the unification match is taking a full hour, that might be why. Basically I'm assuming they are in some way building to a rematch at the pay per view, and not some other direction.

Some people have talked about MJF getting involved, but we've just seen Punk, Omega and Danielson make returns, so do we need another so soon? Then again AEW's booking rarely shows much restraint for that sort of thing so I'm not ruling out an MJF return based on that. I don't quite see what MJF would do on Dynamite though, how would he best make an impact with regards to the AEW World title? If he does come back, he is my prediction to become the next AEW World Champion, but I can't really see a way to plug him in here and now. Maybe he could return at the end of All Out and attack whoever is champion? Also if you're wondering about how he bypasses the ranking system, we have seen in the past that a champion can offer to defend the title regardless of the opponents ranking. Thats basically how the TNT and TBS titles work all the time, but also Chris Jericho offered Jungle Boy a title shot if he could last ten minutes with him so there is a precedent for that.

Looking at the current singles rankings as I'm writing this on Sunday, I am surprised to see that Hangman Page is currently sitting at number 1. He is however currently in a storyline with the Elite and the Dark Order in the trios tournament. When you look at the rest of the rankings I can't see any of the others being next in line either. Powerhouse Hobbs, Daniel Garcia, Jay Lethal and Darby Allin are all in other storylines already. There is nobody in those rankings that I can see as a viable world title challenger right now given that they are all in other storylines.

In summary, my guess is that the Dynamite match will have some kind of finish that will lead to a bigger rematch at All Out, and we will get a decisive winner there. They really haven't set up a next challenger, so I wonder if MJF will return and eventually force the champion into making him the next challenger. MJF has history with both Moxley and Punk, so whoever wins at Full Gear you have something to build on. Thats my prediction, just watch me end up being totally wrong on Wednesday.

If you are reading this I'd like to thank you for your time. I do this blog and my YouTube channel because I am a long time fan who wanted a creative outlet, and I appreciate every reader/viewer. My channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKD5h_ZFhcVfsHeTUYF-6Cw

August 21st 2005 - Shawn Michaels vs Hulk Hogan at Summerslam 2005

This is the script for my YouTube video on this topic. You can find the video version here:

On August 21st 2005 WWE presented Summerslam 2005 from Washington DC. This night is maybe most famous for a once in a lifetime dream match that is remembered more for what was taking place behind the scenes. The only ever one on one match between Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan. When this match was originally booked, the hope was that this match would be the first of at least two matches between the two, with each man getting a victory. As a result, the July 4th Raw ended with HBK and Hogan defeating Carlito and Kurt Angle, but post match Shawn would hit Hogan with Sweet Chin Music. Shawn didn't want to turn heel, but did so for the match, knowing he would get his win eventually.

Despite Shawn being hesitant, he went all out in his new role. Two weeks later the July 15th Raw emanated from Montreal, where some little misunderstanding might have happened a few years earlier, and Shawn Michaels might have known something about it. For years after Shawn was still hated in Canada, especially Montreal, so he played up to that. He goaded the crowd about their hero Bret Hart, saying he would never come back, until the Hitman's music played and the crowd went crazy. At the time rumours had been going around of contact between WWE and Hart, and a deal was eventually made in August 2005, however this turned out to be for WWE to produce a DVD compilation with Bret's input.

Because of the rumours, there were fans that believed Bret might actually be in the building, but after a few minutes of Michaels pacing around the ring in fear it became clear that Bret wasn't really there. Michaels' expression turned from shock to amusement. It turned out that he had planned the whole thing to rile up the crowd, who hated him now more than ever. This trick has been done many times before or since, but never with such a riotous crowd reaction. In an ironic turn of events, when Bret eventually did return to WWE in 2010, he called Shawn Michaels out to the ring, and the two made amends.

On The August 1st Raw Shawn turned the heat up even more, this time performing a parody of Hulk Hogans recent interview by Larry King, with an actor playing Larry and Shawn Michaels playing Hogan. Entering the set on a walker, wearing a fake tan, a wig and a bandana, Shawn looked ridiculous, and if you've never seen this segment before I'd advice you to go and watch to believe, link in description brother... The segment was so loved at the time that a unique action figure was produced of Shawn playing Hulk Hogan.

Behind the scenes as the match drew closer, Neither man could agree on who would be winning at Summerslam, or if there would be a follow up. Shawn had pitched that he win the first one and Hogan the second. Hogan refused this, and wanted one match where he would win. In another example of WWE not learning from the mistakes of WCW, Hogan had creative control in his contract, meaning he could refuse anything he didn't like. As a result, Hogan would get his way. Once this became public knowledge there was a portion of the fans sided with Shawn Michaels, given that in an ideal world, the 52 year old with a fake hip and bad knees shouldn't be beating a 40 year old current main event star. In a slightly petty act of revenge, Shawn managed to steal Hogans spotlight in a way only he could, when the bell rang.

Throughout the 21 minute match, Shawn Michaels decided to oversell everything Hogan did. From the

opening minutes, Michaels took a bump seemingly every time they touched. Sometimes even landing outside the ring, and even a few times adding a bizarre flip as he fell. He also seemed to make a point of making his offence as simple as possible, chops and punches mostly, as if to emphasise Hogans lack of movement by comparison. In contrast to Shawn bouncing all over ringside, Hogan first leaves his feet 9 minutes into the match. HBK tries to get more heat by applying a Sharpshooter, which does manage to get the crowd to boo him. After a referee bump, Shawn gets a chair and hits Hulk with a brutal looking shot that I'm not sure Hogan got his hands up for. Michaels hits the elbow, and Sweet Chin Music, and for a brief moment it looks like Shawn might actually win. Hulk doesn't just kick out however, he throws HBK off him, and launches into his trademark comeback sequence. As if it was one last act of defiance, when Hogan hits his big boot off the ropes, Michaels falls down, pops right back up off the mat, and falls again. Thats right, he bumped twice for a kick. Hogan finishes with the Leg Drop of doom, and pins Shawn Michaels. Post match the two shake hands, but Hogans doesn't look happy. I can't decide whether he realises or not yet, but despite Hogan getting the win, all anyone could talk about the next day was Shawn Michaels' performance.