Jim Ross Analyzes SummerSlam 2005's Hogan vs. Michaels Match

During the latest episode of Grilling JR, Jim Ross spoke about the infamous match between Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 2005.

“Pleasantly surprised. I thought Shawn took some liberties. I thought Shawn was a little lighthearted and being a wise-ass at times in that situation, but Michaels’ ego is such that he cannot have a bad match that reflects negatively on him and that certainly would have. I thought the match was pretty damn good, quite frankly. Michaels had to gear it back a little back because Michaels’ pace and Hogan’s pace were entirely different. It’s much like the Kurt Angle and Hogan match [at King of the Ring 2002]. It was just different and the pacing and psychology were different. So, I thought they had a good match, and I was not surprised it was a good match because of the egos involved. Michaels wanted to go out there and say, ‘I had this great match with Hogan, can you? I can, I’m good.’ That’s kind of where I saw that situation.

“It was a match that had to be booked. It was the new “it” boy vs. the legend. It had to be booked at some point. You just hope the damn thing was gonna be a good, solid match. Hogan had reasons to be wary because Shawn was taking this thing very lightheartedly. It’s just a different generation. Young guys like Shawn at that time needed to realize you wouldn’t in this position making all of this money if it hadn’t been for a guy named Hulk Hogan steering the course. A lot of guys didn’t want to admit that. They were jealous and didn’t want to give Hogan the credit he deserved.”

On Michaels' selling in the match:

“He did it because he could. He was one of those guys that didn’t have a lot of confidence in Vince bringing Hogan back. There were others, but Shawn was one of them at that time. It was unnecessary. It just showed everybody he did it because he could, and he knew Vince wasn’t gonna do anything about it.”