Shawn Michaels vs Sycho Sid (WWF, 11-17-1996)

WWF Survivor Series, New York, NY

This is for Michaels’ WWF championship, which he’d won at WrestleMania XII and successfully defended against Diesel, Davey Boy Smith, Vader, and Mankind in big matches. But his former friend Sid is now the challenger at MSG.

Sid has plenty of fans at MSG, because New York isn’t necessarily a Shawn Michaels town in 1996. Michaels brings out Jose Lothario, his trainer, to be in his corner. Vince is straight CUMMIN over Shawn inspiring passion in fans and how he’s the greatest champion there’s ever been and a master showman and all this shit. HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA, he laughs as Michaels seductively strips his entrance gear off. “SHAWN MICHAELS CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF IT! HE LIVES AND BREATHES FOR THIS KIND OF ADULATION!”

C&E to start, Sid lands a couple chopping rights and Michaels bumps repeatedly. Sid with straight rights to the chest. Michaels sent off the ropes, slides through Sid’s legs and lands a bunch of jabs, then a crossbody for two. Side headlock takeover and he holds the headlock. Shawn, not Sid. I know Sid is a side headlock takeover master, but it was Shawn.

Sid with a headscissors counter, Michaels kips up and slaps Sid in the face two times in a row. Sid laughs, kick to the gut, and THERE IT IS! The Sid headlock takeover! And HE kips up out of a headscissors, and slaps Shawn! They trade rights and Sid gets the better of it because he is bigger and stronger. Michaels gets pressed, Sid holds him easily, and Michaels drops down to his feet. Shot to the gut, Sid off the ropes, Michaels telegraphs a backdrop but escapes a power bomb attempt and bails out to the floor to regroup.

Small “Sid” chant and Shawn notices it. Sid finally gives chase, which is what Michaels may have been trying to do. Back into the ring, Sid telegraphs a backdrop, reverses a whip to the corner, Michaels gets a boot up and chops the knee to put Sid down, where Michaels really needs him.

Michaels being openly and clearly booed by the vocal Sid fans as he goes to work on Sid’s knee. More pro-Sid chants as Michaels stays on the knee. Michaels goes for the figure four, more boos, and Michaels holds up to soak in them a bit, then drops down in the hold.

Michaels holds the figure four for a bit, then Sid finally rolls it over. Michaels rolls it to the ropes to break. Shawn goes right back to the knee, slamming his ass down on it over the bottom rope. The boos for Michaels are intensifying. To be fair, his fans are trying to compete, too.

Michaels goes for the figure four again, Sid kicks him off on the twist, and Michaels shoulders the post. Sid with a couple of kicks to the ribs. Sid limping, but back up and in control. Another kick to the ribs. Sid backs to the corner, bumps into the camera, and shoves it out of his way. Then runs and kicks Michaels in the ribs again.

More kicks, now in the corner. Sid is #TeamKick. More exaggerated limping, then he goes to the corner, runs, and misses a knee. Michaels off the ropes, dropkick to the knee of Sid. Michaels stomps the knee down into the mat. More booing.

Michaels goes back to the leg, kicked off, same again, same a third time. Michaels skins the cat but then gets clotheslined over to the floor. Plenty of cheers for that. Sid follows out from the other side and catches Michaels getting up. Sid walks Shawn into the entrance aisle, then whips him into the apron. Michaels bounces back and Sid presses him and drops him down onto the guardrail.

Sid bumps a fan’s fist. He’s playing up to it all. He did it on the entrance, too. Michaels picked up, another kick from Sid. Michaels tossed back into the ring. Sid huffing wind, but he takes a moment to pose for his fans before coming back into the ring.

Sid crawls over slowly, covers, and gets two. Michaels off the ropes, this time the backdrop hits. Sid with a running boot to the head, and some clubbing hammer blows in the corner, beating Shawn down. Another running kick to the head.

Sid sends Michaels to the other corner, Michaels takes the flip bump out to the apron, but catches Sid and jacks his jaw over the top rope. Loud boos as Michaels climbs to the top rope, Sid staggers up, but he catches Shawn in mid-air. Side backbreaker from Sid, cover gets two.

Michaels whipped to the corner and hits viciously hard this time. Sid stalking over, but he lets Michaels get up and wave him in. Another whip to the other side, another hard crash. Michaels keeps waving Sid in. Sid with a big sidearm right hand, holds Michaels up from falling, and cracks him again. He holds him up again, cracks him again.

But Michaels fires a right hand back, another one, another one, lots of boos, and Sid comes back and they’re trading. Michaels scoops and slams Sid, then looks to go up. Shawn goes to the second rope and goes for a … flying double axhandle to a downed man, I guess, crashing instead into Sid’s boot.

Sid with a cobra clutch! Again, the master technician strikes. Sid doesn’t care that that move was the finish to the night’s Hart-Austin match. Michaels fights out of the hold after a two count on the mat, but he goes off the ropes and gets GOOZLED. Michaels goes to the eyes, sets for the superkick, it’s blocked — CHOKESLAM!

Michaels is out and Sid is calling for the finish. He pulls Shawn up, sets for the power bomb — and Michaels counters with an inside cradle for two. Sid with a kick to the back as Michaels tries to get up. Jim Ross is upset about Sid’s showmanship.

Michaels off the ropes, caught in a powerslam for two. Michaels off the ropes, this time he hits the flying forearm, rocking Sid back to the ropes and into the corner. Michaels kips up, but Sid mows him down with a clothesline as soon as he turns around. Sid covers, gets two again.

Sid in the corner, waiting on Michaels to get up. Sid takes the camera from a camera man on the apron, the one he slapped earlier, and Jose Lothario gets on the apron. Sid has the camera and pops Jose in the chest, knocking Lothario down to the floor. Sid drops the camera, turns around, SWEET CHIN MUSIC from Michaels.

But Shawn, the idiot, doesn’t cover. He sees that Lothario is down on the floor. They’re doing a World Class fake heart attack, hell yeah. Lothario brings the Sportatorium to MSG. Sid comes out to the floor, having fully recovered, and brings Shawn back in. Michaels springs out of the corner with a crossbody, Sid ducks, and Earl Hebner gets wiped out.

Michaels back out to the floor to check on Jose again. Sid comes out, grabs the camera he dropped earlier, and cracks Michaels across the back. Referee, recovering, saw nothing. “My God, I hope he’s not having a heart attack. I hope he’s not having a heart attack.”

Sid throws Michaels back into the ring, looks around, and picks Shawn up in position. Power bomb! Cover, two, three, new WWF champion. A girl in the front row all but collapses in disappointment as NYC superfan Vlad celebrates over her.

Michaels is back out to check on Lothario, and EMTs are down. Sid celebrates with the title as Michaels crawls behind the stretcher being quickly wheeled out. “Jose’s heart could be damaged, Shawn’s is broken.” Hahahaha.

Rating: 3.5/5. It’s a good Sid match but even more than that, this really has a lot going for it. Fake heart attack, goofy multi-layered finish, fans booing Shawn Michaels. I remember being totally shocked at this outcome when I was 14, but in hindsight it was pretty predictable given that Bret Hart had the IYH December title shot after beating Austin, and of course Bret was going to beat Austin on this show. They weren’t going to waste a Michaels-Hart WrestleMania rematch on a December IYH show. So it had to be Sid at MSG. And it was. Michaels would get the belt back in Jan. 1997 at the Alamodome in his hometown, then he’d vacate it because he lost his smile. And faked a knee injury which miraculously healed after WrestleMania where he didn’t have to lose the belt to Bret after all. Bret would win the belt for a day in Feb. 1997, then Sid got it back to take it to Mania.