WWE History: 7 greatest babyface rivalries

#2 John Cena vs Shawn Michaels

After Shawn Michaels lost a spot in the main event of WrestleMania 23 following his elimination in the Royal Rumble match in 2007, he set his sights on WWE Champion John Cena. The two went on to meet at The Show of Shows and actually ended the PPV, with fans expecting The Undertaker vs Batista to be the headliner.

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Cena retained his title, but this was far from over. Several weeks later, the duo met on an episode of Monday Night Raw.

Shawn and Cena went on to have an instant classic. The two Superstars wrestled for an hour, in what many consider to be the greatest Raw match of all time. Michaels calls it one of his all-time favorite matches.

It's amazing how trying to do that hour-long match didn't seem like such a big mountain to climb. It really helps when you have a history with someone. John and I were coming off of the WrestleMania [23] match and because of that, we had a decent amount of story points to work around, so it was easy.

About the author

Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.

Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.

He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.

Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.

When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.

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Edited by Anthony Akatugba Jr.