Chris Jericho Vs. Shawn Michaels: The Greatest Feud Of All Time C Vs. C

The cold Canadian winds blow in across the plains of Manitoba, Canada. A twenty two-time champion, the fourth ever Grand Slam Champion, the ninth Triple Crown champion and the one man to hold the Intercontinental Championship more times than anyone, the best there is at what he does, Chris Jericho stands tall.

At nearly the opposite end of the continent in the second largest city in Texas, the warm Texan air brings the heat and one of the most respected men in all of wrestling’s history. A 20-year career spanning from bad boy to born again, former Rocker, former Clique leader and eternal General in the army of DX, the first ever Grand Slam Champion, the Fourth Triple Crown and winner of 11 Slammy awards, three of those being Match of the Year awards, the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels has done and seen it all.

Within that span of twenty years, few have taken it to Michaels in a way that made him earn his reputation. A barber shop window and a Montreal screw job could be looked at as single moments that created history and changed his path.

A battle with a long time partner would culminate in reuniting the team of DX. Once again, it would bring the marriage of shenanigans and devastation to the ring in a truly epic but happy ending. Even a battle with a Deadman, time and time again, to challenge a streak vs. a title of Mr. Wrestlemania in fact only secured both and while it ended a career. It was a win-win situation.

But when that cold wind of Canada met with that hot air of Texas, a storm like no other was created. This was not a scheme to screw a legend, a friendship gone awry, nor was it a challenge of respect and honor. This feud was born of disdainful superiority, a clashing of Titans where a torch wasn’t being passed, it was being taken.

In January of 2003, Chris Jericho, Y2J claimed not only to be the next Shawn Michaels, but he also let the world know he felt he was better than Shawn Michaels. HBK had returned and made the claim of once again winning the Royal Rumble match and securing his headline spot at Wrestlemania, and he’d do it from the number one entry position of the match. Jericho then won an over-the-top challenge on Monday Night Raw which allowed him to pick his number, and in one of the most unprecedented moments Jericho chose to be number two in the match rather than number 30, to prove he could do what Michaels could only claim to do.

Neither Jericho nor Michaels would win the rumble match and head to the grandest stage of all to battle for the championships. Instead they did something far better; they battled each other at Wrestlemania 19 in Seattle Washington for an outstanding twenty two minutes, the longest match that night. It ended with a roll up by Michaels, he had his hand raised in victory and the house came down. Not even a match up between Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon could steal the thunder that was created by HBK and Y2J.  

When the match ended, HBK knew Y2J, and he had put on one of the greatest matches of anyone’s career and offered his hand in athletic respect. An emotional Jericho pushed his hand aside and went in for an embrace, he and a man he looked up to just made over 54,000 fans stand on their feet and applaud. But then it happened, the first shot occurred and Jericho sealed his fate and character forever. He backed up from the embrace, delivered a knee to HBK’s groin and pie faced him to the ground. The greatest feud in all of WWE was born.

The two would go on their way and feud with others, but that moment most certainly never left their minds. Later Jericho and HBK would go at it once again, Michaels was invited on his talk show segment, The Highlight Reel, to confront him on his treachery against Batista. The crowd cheering on HBK even though he admitted to faking an injury incited Jericho to the point where he drove Michaels' face first into his large flat screen monitor the Jeritron 6000.

An explosion of glass and plastic erupted in the arena as though a bomb had gone off, the crowd, shocked, scared and amazed at the site of man’s face being put through a monitor made every single person, regardless of who’s side you were on cringe.

This second shot fired by Jericho had supposedly caused severe damage to Shawn’s eye. This lead the two into another PPV match, this time at The Great American Bash. Jericho would have his hand held victorious at the end, not due to a pin fall or submission, but by the referee, declaring Jericho the winner. He had beaten Michaels so badly that the match needed to be stopped.

Soon after this match, the devastation was apparently too much for the Michaels' home. Shawn came on to Raw with his lovely wife to announce his retirement from wrestling, he claimed it was a good long career and he knew it was time to walk away.

Cue Jericho’s music.

He insisted that Michaels admit that it was him who ended his career, that it was the beating at his hands that brought down The Heartbreak Kid, and that he was truly superior to Shawn in every way. Michaels' wife pleaded to Shawn to just walk away, a tussle began and in the process, Jericho punched HBK’s wife square in the jaw, dropping her like a bad habit. At first you saw a look of concern; she was not his intended target, but upon seeing how badly this hurt HBK, that concern quickly escalated. Jericho smirked as he walked away, watching EMTs attend to the wife while Michaels sat there, frothing at the mouth.

This of course lead to another singles match like no other: the appropriately named Unforgiven PPV. An unsanctioned no holds bar fight was to take place between two of the greatest wrestlers with by far the most impressive résumés in all of professional wrestling.

The Heartbreak Kid didn’t show up that night. Instead, Mr. Shawn Michaels, husband to Rebecca, showed up to seek his vengeance on a man who punched his wife in the face. Michaels beat Jericho so badly that this time the tables turned and the referee would stop the bout, declaring HBK the winner.

Once again, they would meet in an important singles matchup, appropriately named No Mercy. The two would finally battle for the gold. The World Heavyweight Championship was on the line, or rather dangling above. Michaels and Jericho fought in the style of match that HBK made famous, the ladder match. While this might have been Shawn’s playground, Jericho went home with "the ball." He retained his title, defeating Michaels and ending their long feud.

The two would not battle for gold again until it was for the Undisputed tag team championships in a TLC match at of course, the TLC pay per view. DX would walk out the victor, ending Jeri-Show’s reign and ultimately, their partnership.

You can speak on the back and forth battles between The Rock and the numerous challengers he’s had. The war between Stone Cold Steve Austin and his boss Vince McMahon certainly cemented an Attitude Era and a battle of two Brothers of Destruction surely nearly literally raised some hell. But none delivered the matches, the hatred or the emotion on both a personal and professional level like that of the greatest WWE feud of all time.

Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels.