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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Shawn Michaels faced John Cena at WrestleMania 23 because he pursued Cena’s WWE Championship after falling short in the 2007 Royal Rumble. The twist was that the two were also World Tag Team Champions and partners, making their title rivalry part of an uneasy alliance that continued almost until their match.
How Michaels earned a match with Cena
Michaels came close to winning the 2007 Royal Rumble, but he did not win it. WWE’s February 6 announcement said he had secured a WWE Championship opportunity at WrestleMania 23 against champion John Cena. The Royal Rumble winner, The Undertaker, was not the reason Michaels faced Cena; Michaels’s own pursuit of the championship set up the match. WWE’s announcement identifies Michaels as the challenger.
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Why their partnership made the rivalry unusual
Cena and Michaels were not simply singles opponents. On January 29, 2007, they won the World Tag Team Championships, even as Michaels made clear he wanted Cena’s WWE title. WWE’s retrospective presents that combination—partners sharing one championship while competing for another—as a central tension in the story. WWE’s account of the title pursuit describes the tag-title victory and Michaels’s challenge.
Their alliance continued as WrestleMania approached. WWE’s March 25 Raw recap described months of tension between the tag champions, who were also set to face each other at WrestleMania. During a tag match shortly before the event, Michaels hit Cena with Sweet Chin Music. These were developments in WWE’s on-screen storyline, not evidence of a real-life personal feud. WWE’s Raw recap recounts the turn.
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What happened at WrestleMania 23
Cena defeated Michaels and retained the WWE Championship. WWE’s match account says Michaels targeted Cena’s knee, but an errant charge sent Michaels into the ring post and gave Cena an opening to recover. WWE reported an attendance of 80,103 at Ford Field in Detroit. Its match page also said 59 percent of fans in an AT&T Mobile poll picked Cena to win; WWE did not provide the poll’s sample size or methodology, so that figure should be understood as the company’s report of that poll, not as a representative survey. WWE’s official match record gives the result and those event figures.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The story continued the next night
On the April 2 episode of Raw, WWE presented the partnership as breaking apart after Cena’s victory. Michaels acknowledged the loss but rejected the idea that Cena had proved himself the better man: “You won and I lost, and I don’t like it. John Cena, you might have won last night, but you are not the better man!” WWE’s recap attributes the line to Michaels in the storyline.
Rank #2
- It set an indoor attendance record, and to this date no sports-entertainment crowd has been bigger. Two of the biggest WrestleMania matches of all time took place, as well as countless additional memories. WrestleMania III was a worldwide phenomenon, and now this Championship Edition will allow fans to experience it in a whole new light, with a Championship Experience version of the event that giv
WWE’s official material explains the on-screen setup: Michaels sought Cena’s championship, and their tag-team partnership intensified the conflict. It does not establish a private, behind-the-scenes reason for WWE’s booking decision.
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Rank #4
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