Mankind vs. Shawn Michaels

[10.0] "1 more second , let shawn pin mankind for 1 more second keep it a clean finish not a dq and this just might be the perfect match. But even with that a non clean finish you can't deny this match is an absolute classic. Mankind's performance here makes him feel like a completely unbeatable monster to the point where hbk had to cheat and do some "non politically correct" moves to win. 10/10 physicality 10/10 selling 10/10 pacing 10/10 phycology"

[10.0] "One of the greatest matches in WWF/E history. Top-of-the-shelf psychology, tremendous structure, execution, drama and work-rate, and sick, sick bumps. The interference ending is kind-of whatever but it doesn't really matter much. This was truly, truly fantastic."

[7.0] "That was a good match but the ending could've been way better if it was not a DQ. I enjoyed the many spots. I was not a big fan of Mankind, but this match changed my mind. I loved what they did inside and outside the ring."

[9.0] "Such a fucking bummer of a finish, but my god that was just awesome. Insane kinetic energy and great chemistry. HBK was lowkey beating the fuck out of this dude in the first portion. He was ironically not phased at all by any mind games or bullshit, so Mankind had to bring it through genuine physicality and endurance against the champ. A blast! ****1/2"

[8.0] "With a decent finish, this would be 9 points no question. Both of these men proved a lot here. Michaels finally showed some grit facing Mick. He showed he could have a big match that wasn't his traditional fluffy performance based match and that he could do something a little more hard hitting. Mick, on the other hand, showed that he could go. That he was a wrestler. Not just a stuntman. Not just "the hardcore guy." He goes nearly a half hour at a Shawn Michaels pace and keeps up with him every single step of the way. He is never slow for Shawn, never really keeps him waiting, and whenever the match slows down, it slows logically to build the drama back up. It is never slow because Mick is gassed. The both gave the other something they desperately needed. Foley was as giving as ever, bumping and really selling hard for Shawn. The finish ends up being a DQ, but sort of reminiscent of Wrestlemania 8's main event. Vader is clearly supposed to get to the ring to stop the pin, but he's late. Shawn has to awkwardly wait. The ref is making a REALLY slow count to try and give Vader time. Then Mick has to roll his shoulder and Shawn needs to sort of jump off him for no reason to catch Vader coming. A DQ in and of itself wouldn't have hurt this match. But a DQ on top of a botch does hurt it a little bit. It is still required viewing, though. A true classic encounter."

[8.0] "Another match that Michaels should have lost. Mankind was tremendous here, he was on fire in 1996. It's a shame that the end sucked because this was a great match between two amazing workers."

[7.0] "I would have given this match an 8 if it wasn't for that horrific ending. Great pacing for such a long match. Shawn works a more aggressive and desperate style, which was unusual for this period of time."

[10.0] "One of the greatest matches in pro-wrestling history. Mankind's entrance is incredible; accompanied by Paul Bearer and druids, arriving inside a coffin, playing a big "mind game." Shawn realizes he is facing a danger he has never encountered before; in front of him stands a man who ended The Undertaker's "invincible force" image and will not hesitate to use his body to death to win. Therefore, Shawn must be extra aggressive & calculated. Shawn's offensive performance is the best of his career; slamming Mankind onto concrete, repeatedly using the steel steps mercilessly as both a defensive and offensive tool to trap him, trying to destroy Mankind's leg and break the Mandible Claw finger. Mankind's tolerance for pain forces Shawn to adapt to survive. No other match combines various styles and structures better than this; authentic moments like Mankind's neck hanging on the ropes or Shawn's epic Sweet Chin Music are unrepeatable. The finish is complex, but completes the structural theme of the match. A fighting champion vs. psycho challenger, incredible mix of chaotic brawling, crazy spots, psychology, limb work, details, amazing character work, chaotic action, diversity & creativity of spots, masterclass storytelling. A serious contender for the greatest pro-wrestling match ever. *****"

[8.0] "This match is good, but the result was low point here, Michaels and Mankind did a great job, the match was full of moments, but Undertaker appearing, Vader too, It was going so good and they did this, it was to give heat to Taker vs Mankind, but the result of DQ, and the fact that for moments I saw it like a Casket match without announcement, it's not a good point for this. 8/10 [****1/2]"

[9.0] "Please consider this the best match I can't give a 10 to. The first 20 minutes of this are some of the best wrestling I ever did see, with Foley getting his neck caught in the ropes being one of my favourite moments in any wrestling match. Unfortunately, lots of stupid interference prevents this from being what it should've been, which is one of the best matches OAT. Violent and exciting, full of thrilling limbwork and natural stories. But alas, that finish."

[6.0] "Very disappointing match here. The end is absolutly bad and spoils totally the match, which was in any case not as very good as actually expected. Mankind is an excellent wrestler, Michaels knows how to entertain, but here it was good, but not as good as suggested by the ratings. Anyway, the end is so terrible, so it's just a nice match."

[9.0] "I actually can vividly remember watching this match as a pre-teen and thinking it was one of the best matches I had seen at the time. Shawn upped the intensity and brutality early in an attempt to meet Mankind at his own game. Mankind is hard to kill though and his awkward/chaotic style brought another level out of Shawn. The suplex onto the steps was wild and set the tone of the match with Shawn targeting the legs. Shawn was so damn good in this. Mankind was so damn good at this. Their escalating pace for this long of a match was impressive. I don't think this dragged for one second. Had this ended after the table spot and super kick it probably would have been an easy 10/10."

[6.0] "I didn't like the match. I genuinely don't understand why it has such a high rating from the site's users and a 4.75 from WON. I found it very boring to watch, and I suppose it could be because I wasn't in the right mood."

[9.0] "Shawn was in incredible form in 1996, and it's no surprise he put on such a good match against such a good opponent as Foley. Despite having fought together only a few times, the two have excellent chemistry and put on what was probably the best WWF match of the year. A well-worked match, almost in classic NWA style, with HBK focusing his attacks on Mankind's hand and knee, who consistently sold the strikes he received very well. The psychology of this match is perfect! It's a shame it ended in a DQ, but it made sense considering the rivalries of the time."

[9.0] "Both Shawn and Mankind were on fire in 1996, and they expectedly tore the house down when they faced each other. Despite the match not having a stipulation, it was brutal as fuck with many cool spots, not very common in this era. It was expected from Mankind to be crazy as hell, but even Shawn showed a completely different side of his to overcome the challenge. The only reason I am not giving it full points is because of the lame finish. I understand they wanted to protect Mankind, but a better finish would probably have been a count out finish. Even a DQ finish could've been executed better than what we saw. The worst part is that Shawn and Vader didn't even finish their program, making the Vader attack even more pointless. Although, seeing The Undertaker come out of the casket was a pretty cool moment. [****3/4]"

[9.0] "The are a lot of really fun aspects to this match. The contrast of styles between both wrestlers is fascinating to watch unfold. This is especially true with the heel/face dynamic. HBK is the obvious fan favorite and babyface coming into this match, but acts much more like a heel throughout than Mankind does. He introduces and uses a chair, pushes Earl Hebner, pulls up the mat to expose the concrete and even bites Mankind. Just a wild chaotic scene that was perfectly executed by both men. I'm going to ding it a point for two reason. First, the finish. You could have had a clean win by HBK and Mankind wouldn't have been hurt by that at all. He just went toe to toe with the WWF Champion for almost 27 minutes. Second was the commentary which was atrocious in my view. I normally love JR and don't mind Vince, but they were so obviously trying to shoehorn the black and white face/heel narrative by excusing everything Michael's was doing while crapping all over Mankind. It was dreadful to listen to. Better commentary and a clean finish would have earned a 10."

[9.0] "This could have been an all-time great bout. The finish is mostly what holds it down from being it, but the action up to that point is just incredible. Michaels comes to wrestle, but Foley is there to brawl. Mankind is just cutting him out with strikes, not letting Shawn get any momentum. He only gets an edge by dropkicking Foley while he is exposing the floor with bad intentions on the outside. But the immediate follow up may be the best. Michaels stomps the hell out of Mick. He's pissed by Foley's punches, so he ups the aggression and starts throwing some haymakers of his own. Real nasty retaliation from the Heart Break Kid. But he is still throwing himself full force against the madman, which gives Foley control back after avoiding Michaels' offence. Great babyface performance from HBK, recognising the weakness in his approach. He doesn't keep using his superior velocity and agility to throw himself into Mankind, instead opting for avoiding Foley's rushes. Mick being each time more desperate from the nasty work over the leg lends perfectly into it. If it had a proper finish, instead of a bullshit DQ via Vader intervention (or even another kind of DQ or stoppage that followed the flow of the match), it may have reached perfection. But it comes so very close to it."

[9.0] "The finish was a complete cop-out, but this was just under a half an hour of incredible brawling. Easily one of Foleys greatest performances as an in-ring worker, if not THE greatest. Michaels was incredible here too, showing great intensity in response to Foleys chaotic style."

[7.0] "Really enjoyed the sequences when Mankind was being tripped into the stairs, ringposts and otherwise having mishaps while Shawn rang rings around him. Finish was a huge disappointment that tore attention away from Shawn's chair-assisted Sweet Chin Music: rather than being able to sit with Shawn putting down a man that doesn't feel pain we get Vader, Sid, Undertaker. If it had to happen, it should have been after the bell."

[9.0] "A sleeper hit in Shawn Michaels' catalogue and probably the best non-stipulation Mick Foley match ever. Everything here makes sense, the psychology here is damn near perfect. Sensible strategies, excellent selling, and great character work all seem like it's leading towards a genuine all-timer. Then, after a great finishing sequence, there's a nonsensical DQ finish that muddies the match. Not enough to make it below a ****1/2 rating (really the pre-finish stuff is that damn good), but enough for me to not view it in that upper echelon of all-time matches. Still a must-watch if you're a fan of either of these guys or this era of wrestling."

[8.0] "Will not pop up on many YouTube comps but this has perhaps one of the most astonishing Sweet Chin Music spots ever."

[8.0] "great fairly brutal match. the match is mostly well paced and both mankind and hbk take a lot of damage, suplex to tables, head to concrete, full speed crashes, kicks through chairs, they did an amazing job here, the fight is entertaining af. honestly aside from the finish this as good as shawn v taker bad blood but, even if the taker comeback was dope, a dq finish will never be good 8, 25-8, 5/10"

[9.0] "This match is a major sleeper. Considering the circumstances, you wouldn't expect this to be as good as it is. Foley and HBK, although both legends, have rarely had any matches against each other and the match ends in a DQ finish. However, the spots that Foley and HBK manage to pack into this match are just the coolest. Whether you're talking about the table spot where they don't even bother clearing it off before Foley back suplexes Shawn off the top rope through it, or the numerous bumps and moves off the apron onto the concrete, or what I consider the best spot of the match, Shawn jumping off one chair to give Sweet Chin Music to Mankind as he sits on the top turnbuckle and tries to use another chair to try to protect himself. Just awesome stuff, highly recommend you seek this one out if you haven't seen it already, it's worth your time for sure."

[10.0] "Great match from the pre-Attitude era, but Vince McMahon is growing insufferable on commentary. Shawn Michaels was at his absolute peak here and Mankind wasn't far from it. I mostly remember the table spot from this, but the match itself is a work of art."

[10.0] "An incredible, incredible match. Shawn working with the aggression he normally doesn't work with in his match here with mankind to match his intensity here was a sight to behold. Mankind being a mad man per usual with the bumps he takes, how electric this crowd was from start to finish. Shawn and mankind had some fun matches with another it would have been cool to see them actually feud for an extended period of time. If it wasn't for the finish this would have been a 5 for me. Amazing match. ****3/4"

[9.0] "Great match spanning nearly 30 minutes. It starts off with high-intensity action from Shawn before Mankind's antics start to get the better of him. Some of my favourite in-ring work and performances from Mankind are in this match, too. I can see how the overbooked ending could be a problem, but to me, the only real negative here is the DQ finish."

[8.0] "The ending was something. It was a nice match but it felt it was only to develop other fudes not the match. Michaels and Foley did really great and when the kicked it to the next gear i was genuinely excited. I had a problem with the Casket just being there because i was just waiting when will taker appear."

[9.0] "An excellent match of almost 30 minutes. Michaels and Mankind treat us. The work on Mankind's leg at the beginning of the match is very good. Mankind's selling throughout is great. Quite a few spots, all equally successful, notably more or less the finish with the Sweet Chin Music on Mankind on the top of the post with the chair. Vader's intervention which caused the end of the match disappointed me a little, but the overbooking of the post match is good. (4*3/4)"

[8.0] "Good match, I didnt feel bored at any point of that match, but still not that great match. Probably the match went too long and shouldve been a bit shorter."

[7.0] "This is a decent match, between two really good competitors, and it is a long championship match, but it's not like some hidden gem mat classic or anything. It's a solid entry in both guy's catalog, but both guys have many much more impressive matches to their resumés. They do manage to keep in interesting for most of this, but the match is a little longer than it probably really needed to be. Shawn Michaels also seems to get a lot of shine in his matches for whatever reason; you'd think this match would be mostly heat and heroic hope spots and comebacks. And what is up with the coffin? Notable in this match is the back suplex spot into the announce table, which would get countless replays in promo packages. Unsatisfying finish to this, because Vader was just not getting his ass kicked enough on these 96 shows. The undertaker showing sure is fun though."

[7.0] "There is nothing special about the match, I couldn't understand why people were so high for this match, the ending is also nonsense, and there were 1 or 2 spots that were memorable throughout the match. As good as Mankind and Shawn Micheals are, it's unfair to the other matches that deserve 9 points for this match to get this point."

[10.0] "So fucking good still holds up on a rewatch today. A great kinda forgotten match that I dont really see anyone talk about when talking about greatest wwe title matches of all time Maybe due to the dq finish which unfortunately does keep this from being 5 stars but still I think this deserves more praise. Highly recommend 4.5/5"

[10.0] "An utter masterpiece, and almost certainly among the top five WWF matches of the 90s. It is THE classical wrestling match for Foley's career, an example of his range in the main event role. Ironically, it's the complete opposite for Michaels, featuring the most aggressive performance of his career. Somehow, both men feel at home though, even while operating outside of their presumed comfort zone. The match is packed with creativity, allowing this extended runtime to seamlessly fly by. There is always something happening, and that's without any reliance on near falls. Beautiful match, quite possibly the best of either man's career. The finish is unfortunate, or more specifically its execution, but this is flawless otherwise. ****3/4"

[9.0] "****3/4 / Two hoopers hooping. Mankind is screaming and clawing at himself to stay in this match and Shawn is reacting in a great way giving mankind every shot he has. Every time Mankind gets back up Shawn has one more move for him and these two go full speed with it until the DQ finish which I didn't hate. I thought it was a little sloppy but it added to its unpredictability."

[9.0] "The DQ finish really doesn't do this match justice as everything else about it was amazing. Foley's character work with the deranged version of Mankind was just great to watch and what made it even more effective was Shawn Michaels actually selling his fear with the nervous pre-match promo as well as looking tentative with his offense at the start of the match. This match had great in ring work as well as great psychology and despite it not being a hardcore match and the use of chairs only really coming into play towards the end of the match, this had a lot of brutal spots in an around the ring area with Foley colliding a few violently with the ring steps and winds up going full force into the ring post and the selling here really put over the physicality of the offensive moves. They both have to adapt to each others very different styles and told that story very well. Foley is iconic for his legendary hardcore matches and his pure intensity, but I actually think his wrestling style is very underrated. I loved the spot towards the end where Shawn Superkicks the chair into Foley's face and that actually would have been a great finish! We get the interruption from Vader after the match and Undertaker gets a huge pop when he appears in the casket!"

[7.0] "This match is definitely..interesting. Shawn Michaels at this time was absolutely untouchable, and Mankind did his weird gimmick, but the finish just left me confused. I thought the disqualification was kind of weak, and I didn't really understand why Vader and Sid were necessary."

[7.0] "Shawn and Mick's fight is replete with a lot of unusual ringside interactions. But at the same time, the ending smears the entire impression of the event, an absolutely ridiculous disqualification. The chaotic ending leaves a chaotic aftertaste. Before Vader appeared, the match was confidently going to eight."

[8.0] "This was a very solid match between two all time greats, the in ring psychology was interesting here and the spots were good, Mankind took some awesome looking bumps during this match, a deserved main event."

[7.0] "A really good match with Foley once again being phenomenal in his Mankind gimmick. His body language and psychology is on another level and even though he uses tons of furniture in his matches it still makes sense, plus he makes every spot and bump count. Shawn nicely plays into Mick's type of match, which unfortunately he didn't do with Vader, and as a result we have something really fresh this time. They dosed everything very nicely, so the biggest bumps were left for last and they made sure that all of the kickouts were believable. The DQ finish was lazy, but at least the chaos after that looked pretty good."

[7.0] "An amazing match. Loved all the work these 2 absolute legends put in this one, but holy crap that ending just sucked the soul clean out of me. It's such a shame too. This could've been an all time great match as both Foley and Shawn are both either in, or not far from their primes here, but that screwy finish left such a sour taste in my mouth."

[9.0] "This was supposed to be just a filler defense on a In Your House PPV but Foley ended up giving HBK the best match of his excellent WWF title reign. Foley was amazing in this match as the pyschotic Mankind. In the ring the horror-movie monster Mankind was always better than the comedy character he became later and this match is Foley's best as Mankind. Mankind is such an unorthodox wreslter that Shawn has to change his game plan and act more agressive than usual, the end result is Shawn Michaels dominating most of the match. I like how in the beginning Makind gives openings to Shawn by being to violent, first when he exposes the concrete on the floor Michaels takes over and runs through his entire finishing sequence right up to tuning up the band but Mankind runs away in a great bit. Next mistake for Mankind is when tries to set up the spanish announce table, HBK is given time to recover and suplexes Mankind into the steps, Mankind hurt his knee which gives us which HBK a target. Mankind's selling of his injured knee is just wonderful, leading upto another great bit when Uncle Paul gives Mankind a fork and he uses it on his own knee to get the blood flow back. HBK's own agressiveness does get the better of him too, first when he assumes Mankind is helpless while tied up in the ropes, he allows Foley to hook the manidble claw, however quickly HBK is on the offensive and crushes Mick's hand with a steel chair, Micheals is really good at this part switching from Foley's knee to his hand which just sells how dangerous the manidble claw is. However HBK's over zealousness costs him again when Mick backdrops him out to the ring in a masty bump. Here Foley gets desparate, with his knee shot and his biggest weapon taken out Foley goes into his past. His former finishing moves, the double-under hook DDT get 2, his piledriver gets 2, Foley even tries a amatuer pin as a nod to his amatuer wrestling backgroud but can't put HBK away. Foley losses it here and it all costs him. When he tries to perform a big suplex through the spanish announce table he set up ealier, Michaels reverses it so Mick takes the brunt of the bump. Shawn ends up superkicking a chair into Mankind's face which Mick himself brought into the ring. Unfortunately, this ends with Vader running in for a DQ flat finish but upto that point this was a wonderful character driven chaotic brawl which was so different from any WWF championship match before. Honeslty would have been tempted to go the full 5 if not for the finish. ****1/2"

[9.0] "Before watching this I thought it would have been pretty boring but luckly I was wrong. From bell to bell this was an awesome pure brawl, 100% a chaotic mess. But yes, we all know it but the ending fucked up everything; it's a pity since everything before that was outstanding. ****1/2"

[9.0] "Like everyone else, I do wish that really cool jump-up Sweet Chin Music off the chair had ended this rather than the DQ, but the general chaos of the post-match (including Undertaker magically appearing in the casket which was very goofy and fun) kinda covers for it, and what a great match it was before that in any case. They hyped it as this big unpredictable challenge for the champ and delivered as Mankind looked good in defeat while HBK smartly tore apart his leg and later his hand - the bit where you're expecting him to whack Mankind across the head with a chair but he instead crushes his hand on the apron was particularly good. This was paced and structured really well and felt heated, only thing to really pick at is Vader seeming to be slow on his interference so Mankind awkwardly kicked out of the big finish without much fanfare. (****1/2)"

[10.0] "This match is an instant classic I really wish we got more matches between shawn michaels and mick foley but for what we got this match is just an instant classic it is so much fun and even with a not so great finish this match was still a classic. i really wish we got more matches between these two.. *****"

[9.0] "After some lackluster matches to begin his title reign, Shawn Michaels started to turn the tide in this match. I loved the story they told, including Shawns prematch promo where he legitimately looked nervous for the first time. I may be wrong but it looked like there were some live rounds being fired after what looked to be a missed spot. All added to the match and the story that Shawn had to take it to Mankind physically. Much respect to Foley for bumping like a maniac and bringing a great level of realism not seen in WWF at this time. The DQ finish keeps it from getting a 10."

[7.0] "I did enjoy the chaotic feeling this match had; it felt very different from the usual WWF Championship matches from this time. Mick Foley's bump through the announce table was spectacular also. Nevertheless, while I enjoyed the match, I did not find that it reached the same heights for me that it did for many others. It dragged on a bit too long, and I absolutely loathed the finished because Michaels had spent large sections of the match working over Mankind's knee, only for it to mean diddly-squat as Vader runs-in and causes the match to be thrown out by the referee. Overall, an enjoyable match with a very disappointing finish. ***1/2"

[9.0] "Foley's best match to this point. HBK working a different style match than what we were used to was a great change of pace."

[8.0] "If it weren't for the rough ending, this match would be much better, Foley and HBK making a very interesting contrast of styles and making moments where it looked like it was a NO DQ match, a shame that the ending ended up throwing all that out the window (****1/4)"

[9.0] "Fantastic match. I kept forgetting at times that this isn't a No DQ match. So much usage of the ring area in this match. Only letdown is that finish. Any other finish and it would be a 10."

[7.0] "Great match, the Mankind character was my favorite and Shawn Michaels was an amazing wrestler at this time. I realliy liked this match and would rate higher if not for the stupid finish."