10 Best Shawn Michaels WWE WrestleMania Matches

2. Vs. Razor Ramon - WrestleMania X

One thing about ranking or critiquing matches is that it's important to place them in their proper context. 

This is especially true of something like Shawn and Razor's Intercontinental Title Ladder Match from WrestleMania X. 

Because, besides a Shawn/Bret Hart bout that was taped for the Smack 'Em, Whack 'Em home video release the previous year, this was the first televised ladder match in WWE history. 

The Kliq buddies were breaking new ground (though they had wrestled in ladder matches against one another on house shows), and not only that, they were doing it in Madison Square Garden in a featured match at the historic tenth WrestleMania. 

Have there been more spectacular and noteworthy ladder matches since? Yes, there have, but HBK and The Bad Guy set the bar high that night, with Shawn in particular putting in a show-stealing performance. 

The match started with some nice wrestling sequences, before Shawn's bodyguard Diesel was ejected from ringside and the ladder came into play. From there it was all about how they could use the steel as a weapon, combined with the drama of their attempts to retrieve the belt from above. 

Michaels hit a beautiful splash from the top of the rungs in a move that has been a highlight reel staple ever since, but found himself crotched and trapped in the ropes, allowing Ramon to grab the gold. 

Revolutionary for the time, it is still a gripping contest featuring a couple of star-making performances. A hell of an advertisement for the New Generation, too.