The Real Reason Shawn Michaels Retired From Wrestling

The WrestleMania XXVI showdown between the Heartbreak Kid and the Undertaker felt like the physical equivalent of a love letter to fans. It had passion and poetry of motion. It had the Undertaker's top-rope funambulism and Michaels moonsaulting from the top rope to send the Undertaker through a table. It had thrilling near-falls and brilliant in-ring psychology. Bleacher Report contributor Jon Alba said of that epic encounter, "Being 100% unbiased and detached from the situation, this may have been the greatest match I have ever seen. Ever."

For a moment, it seemed like Michaels would win. In the final moments of the match, Michaels delivered his trademark superkick, Sweet Chin Music, and the WrestleMania crowd roared with the visceral joy of a child who believed they'd never have to grow up. But the Undertaker kicked out at two. Michaels tuned up the band again, but just before it seemed like they reached the crescendo, a chokeslam from the Dead Man silenced Michaels temporarily. Yet the Tombstone piledriver that followed failed to bury his career.

Nevertheless, the end was coming. The finality was written across Michael's face. The Undertaker hesitated to strike the final death knell and shouted, "Stay down!" But Michaels taunted the Undertaker with his own throat cut motion, rose to his feet, and slapped the Dead Man across the face with every ounce of heart he had before the Undertaker sealed his fate with one last furious Tombstone. Somehow he and the Undertaker simultaneously gave fans everything they could hope for in a match and the one thing the dreaded the most: the end of the legendary Heartbreak Kid's career.

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