Batista vs. Shawn Michaels

[8.0] "The final piece of the puzzle before the legendary feud between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels was completed in excellent fashion. Batista brutalized Shawn Michaels to make him pay for faking his injury, and somehow, he wasn't portrayed as the merciless heel in this situation, even though Shawn Michaels was mega over. His actions before and during the match were entirely justified, creating one of those rare situations where both wrestlers act with a relatively gray morality, which was portrayed incredibly well. And the match itself was brutal beyond belief, with both men having their moment to shine over each other while using weapons with relative restraint to let the story unfolding in the ring speak for itself. The ending was nothing short of brilliant; Michaels' inability to deliver Sweet Chin Music despite his attempts, and Batista's clean victory, was a welcome surprise. It could have been even better without Jericho's interference, but even so, this was a great match. A hidden gem in terms of the history of the One Night Stand event."

[7.0] "This was really good with Batista getting the win to put an end to the rivalry. Since Shawn won their first match at Backlash, it made sense for Batista to win. It felt like a match between two guys that didn't like eachother, they had a lot of intensity and there was a lot of drama towards the end of the match. Considering they had never had a Stretcher Match before, they came up with creative spots. I liked the spot where Shawn did the superkick leading to Batista landing on the stretcher right after it. That was smart. After that, Batista came back with his power moves to finish him off. Jericho's motives seemed genuine, but we would come to learn that Jericho was deceitful and had a long rivalry with Michaels after this. The way this match was a no doubt, definitive win for Batista. It was a dominant performance. Michaels was so amazing at selling. That's not breaking news. I know people know that."

[8.0] "The storyline with Batista is strong, yet it is only the introduction to the masterpiece that is still to come between Michaels and Jericho. With this match, Batista punishes the Heartbreak Kid for his antics at Backlash, and you can hardly blame him. The intensity is palpable, the performance consistently good, and the entertainment value of the match lasting. I feel that Jericho's presence here is rather distracting, as a clear break would perhaps have made a bigger statement. On the other hand, this smooth transition in Michaels' feuds from Batista to Y2J certainly has its charm."

[7.0] "Pretty strong use of an always-weird stipulation. Batista was able to use the extreme rules to his advantage, making the blend of power moves much less one-note than they can come across, and Shawn sold the hell out of every minute of this match. Great Character work all around, but Batista's engagement with the whole Jericho thing was very weird, as it frankly seemed like he didn't know what to do at points, and that was a major drawback considering its role in the finish."

[7.0] "HBK's exhausted, ineffectual superkick against Batista's chest as he smirks is glorious. Not a great stipulation but the stretcher has its moments such as being rammed into Batista against the apron and the reversal into HBK's head."

[8.0] "A very fun feud with a great match to end it. Shawn stayed in it at the beginning, but the last 5 minutes was just Batista murdering Shawn."

[10.0] "A continuation of the great series of feuds after Michaels retired Flair at Wrestlemania. After Michaels previously beat Batista in the aftermath by faking an injury, the situation deteriorated between until this match was booked to sort it out. It's a fantastic showcase for Batista, who is both great with his power moves and also sells well to play up the competitive aspect. Batista shows no mercy this time and is able to get Shawn in a really bad way. Curiously, more than once Jericho comes out to cheer on Shawn despite their recent conflict, encouraging Shawn to keep fighting even as he is getting more and more beaten up. Jericho is repeatedly shooed away from ringside but continues to appear and get in the way, until Batista has mashed Shawn into such a pulp that he truly can't come back anymore and the match is done. Strong action and interesting story, this was a great one."

[9.0] "A great brawl between both men with really good action and psychology between each other throughout, definitely had one of the better uses of the stretcher in the stipulation's existence and the involvement of Jericho plays nicely in the story with Shawn."

[7.0] "Stretcher matches are usually not amazing. This was pretty standard to what this match type is. However these two did what they could with the gimmick. Overall it was a decent watch"

[6.0] "I've been loving the build, but unfortunately it was happening just before the Extreme Rules, so they had to have some kind of a dumb stipulation that was just in the way. They worked the gimmick well and actually implemented some story into that, but it would have been much better without some fancy type of a bout attached."

[8.0] "The best stretcher match I have ever seen. A very well told story and great action throughout. Jericho coming out to motivate Shawn was a great element aswell."

[9.0] "Back in 2008 this was one of my favourite matches of the year. Rewatching it now, it isn't quite at that level, but it's still a great match and a well told story that felt like a natural follow up to WrestleMania where everybody had a well defined character and history with one another that allowed big aspects of this storyline to more or lessen write themselves. I tend to hate melodrama in wrestling but this never felt obnoxious or over the top to me, and it was anchored with solid story beats such as Shawn trying to use his technique, speed, and resourcefulness to incapacitate Batista in a match that was clearly better suited for the Animal than for his own skillset, but ultimately being unable to match the raw power of Batista in an environment such as this. The spear that Batista lands late in the match looks fantastic, and I love the desperate, lethargic superkick that Shawn tries to land in a muted attempt at a comeback. This is a unique stretcher match with an emphasis on storyline. The match achieved everything that they set out to accomplish, making Batista seem like a world beater while also creating a very natural segue in to Shawn's next program with Jericho. Very effective."

[6.0] "*** - it's not good. Definitely decent. Good enough to not happen on free TV. Ppv appropriate lol. Two Legends"

[7.0] "Michaels is great bumping for Batista and Batista is good too. Even Jericho shows up to will Michaels on."

[8.0] "Wow, a stretcher match with psychology, a brilliant story and great action? Seriously, I think this may be the best stretcher match in WWE history. There's great innovative use of the stretcher, both Michaels and Batista use it as a weapon in creative ways, making great use of the stipulation. Michaels uses it as leverage for submissions, Batista uses it offensively and almost like a see-saw at one point, brilliant stuff. There's great brawling but underneath it all is a great personal story of Batista wanting to get revenge on Michaels' fake injury and him retiring Ric Flair. The moment where Batista says "I don't love you and I'm NOT sorry" is a brilliant story touch. Jericho interfering twice is a bit of a nuisance cause he doesn't really add anything apart from cheering on Michaels essentially but it's still involved in their own story later on so it's alright. Overall, the best stretcher match I've ever seen. ****"

[7.0] "Batista vs Shawn Michaels comes to this final match of their feud in a Stretcher match. I think they gave the best in the previous matches but this is still exciting and with a strong ending when Batista gets his victory on Shawn Michaels. ***1/2"