A Moment In Time – Shawn Michaels vs Shelton Benjamin – 05.02.05 Monday Night Raw

I had an idea to start doing a series focusing on single matches, not entire shows. I’m a massive fan of this particular match and consider it to be my favorite Raw match ever. If you all are fans of this type of format I’m happy to hear suggestions for what you might want to see covered here in the future. I do have something picked out for the next one but beyond that, I’m open.

Let’s talk about the background: It’s 2005. Eric Bischoff is the Raw GM, and Batista is the new World Heavyweight Champion having defeated Triple H for the title at Wrestlemania. Bischoff has an idea to run a “Gold Rush” tournament to determine Batista’s first challenger and mentions that the matchups will be drawn on the spot, so that no one can prepare for whomever might emerge from behind the curtain. There were eight superstars placed into the tournament and they were: Kane, Christian, Chris Benoit, Triple H, Edge, Chris Jericho, WWE Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin, and Shawn Michaels.

The first set of quarterfinal matches were all held on the May 2nd Raw that happened in the Fleet Center in Boston, MA. The first quarterfinal saw Kane defeat Christian. After Viscera presumably murdered Simon Dean, the next match on the show was the one we’re featuring today. The other two quarterfinals taking place after this match saw Edge defeat Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit beating Triple H. The Benjamin-Michaels match is called by Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler.

The Match:

Michaels gets a MASSIVE pop from the Fleet Center when “Sexy Boy” kicks in, and Benjamin cannot believe who came through the curtain. Michaels goes behind and dumps Benjamin with a waistlock takedown. Benjamin immediately reverses and Michaels scampers to the ropes to avoid being tied up by the All-American amateur wrestling machine. Referee Earl Hebner calls for a clean break and gets it, and Benjamin glares down at Michaels. Michaels grabs a hammerlock, there’s reversals, and Michaels again dumps Benjamin with a waistlock takedown. Benjamin again immediately escapes and wants to grapple but Michaels wants no parts of that and hits the ropes again. A helpful graphic reminds us that both Michaels and Benjamin were both three-time Intercontinental champions at this point. Michaels grabs a side headlock takeover. Benjamin rises out of that and they exchange shoulder tackle attempts before Michaels grabs an armdrag takedown. Benjamin fires off a kick to Michaels head and then fires off a pair of armdrags. Michaels is frustrated in a corner and we reset. Benjamin works a side headlock and Michaels rolls him onto his shoulders for two. Michaels fires off some rights and trucks Benjamin down. Michaels rolls Benjamin over for two and then waffles him with a right forearm. Michaels shakes off a Benjamin charge but turns directly into a huge lariat that sends both of them toppling out. Benjamin springs up into the ring and we go to commercials.

Michaels is trying a superplex when the show returns but Benjamin flips over in mid-air and ends up cross-bodying Michaels. (Replay shows that Benjamin’s ribs landed right on HBK’s face here – YOWCH). Here’s WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista watching the match backstage. They slug it out mid-ring and Benjamin yanks a charging Michaels into a Samoan Drop. They slug it out again and Benjamin takes control with some rights. Benjamin hits a flying forearm and a couple of clotheslines before planting Michaels with a backbreaker off his knee. Benjamin covers and gets two. Michaels fires up with a kick to Benjamin’s chest and then drives him down with his own flying forearm. Michaels nips up at Hebner’s eight count to a gigantic pop and Benjamin nips up in response and poses like a superhero. There’s a series of roll-up attempts that ends with Benjamin getting a long two count. Michaels waffles Benjamin with a knife edge and then yanks him up for more chops in a corner. Benjamin reverses an irish whip and crushes Michaels with a flying splash. Michaels flips out of a T-Bone suplex attempt and sends Benjamin over his shoulders. After a slow rise by both, Michaels catches an attempted kick by Benjamin and whips Benjamin’s leg so hard that it catches Michaels full in the face. Benjamin covers and gets two. Benjamin mounts Michaels in a corner and climbs up. They slug it out and Benjamin falls away while Michaels ascends. Michaels hits an elbow drop but cannot cover. Michaels staggers to his feet and tunes up the band. Benjamin catches Sweet Chin Music and blasts Michaels with a kaman giri. Benjamin covers for a LONG two. Benjamin fires off some back elbows and springs up from the mat to the top rope to hit Michaels with a reverse cross-body (Shelton’s athleticism has always been incredible.) Benjamin covers for two. Michaels rises and dumps a charging Benjamin to the apron. Benjamin leaps up for a springboard and Michaels utterly destroys him in mid-air with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels covers and gets three.

I chose this match to start this series because it remains my favorite Raw match of all time. It’s a relic to watch now because as great as these two performers were at this point, Shelton’s athleticism was pretty much all in-ring stuff, and Michaels was playing his greatest hits. Now, Shawn Michaels greatest hits are better than about 99.75% of any other wrestler, so he was still REALLY good, and this match saw him struggle against a much younger and more gifted athlete. Michaels let the kid have his shine and then ended it in the most spectacular fashion possible. The Sweet Chin Music here was a thing of beauty, and there’s a famous story where they were discussing the finish and Shelton basically told Shawn, you stand where you need to stand and I will get there to take the move. Shelton obviously went on to have kind of a middling career before having a resurgence in the mid-2010’s and then joining The Hurt Business/Syndicate. This remains an amazing television match and a true favorite of mine. 4.75*

Winner – Shawn Michaels (Sweet Chin Music)

Shawn would go on to lose in the next round to Edge, who ended up winning the tournament when he defeated Kane in the Finals. Thanks for taking a quick walk down memory lane with me. If you have any suggestions for future matches, please let me know in comments.