Shawn Michaels is universally regarded as the greatest in-ring performer in WWE history. The Showstopper can also lay claim to being the most prolific special guest referee in WWE history. The Heartbreak Kid wore the zebra stripes an absurd amount throughout his sensational career, to the point that it's surprising he didn't become a referee after retiring from the ring in 2010.

Special guest referees tend to be a compelling gimmick in wrestling. They could be a legend who becomes an attraction to the match itself or a biased heel who stacks the odds higher against the underdog babyface. While it's hard to find out exactly which wrestler holds the record for most special guest referee appearances, Michaels has undoubtedly been the most consequential one of them all.

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Throughout the first half of 1997, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart feuded on and off-screen. Vince McMahon decided to assign Michaels as the guest referee of Hart's WWF championship match against The Undertaker. While Hart had vowed to not wrestle in the United States again if he lost, Michaels also was not allowed to show favoritism to The Undertaker, or he too would be banned from wrestling in the country. Throughout the match, Michaels called it down the middle to the best of his ability. But then Hart used a chair while HBK was knocked out. Michaels noticed the weapon in the ring when he got back up and confronted Hart. The two rivals bickered again, and The Hitman spat in Michaels' face. HBK finally lost his cool and attempted to smash the chair on Bret, but he ducked out of the way, and Michaels instead hit The Undertaker. Reluctantly Michaels counted to three and awarded his arch-enemy the WWF Championship.

Shawn Michaels' involvement as the special referee added to this SummerSlam main event, and it remains one of the best closers in the show's history. Vince must have thought so too, as they revisited the angle several times. The Showstopper was put out of action in 1998 with a devastating back injury and had plenty of time to be used as a special guest referee.

His next big referee spot was on the historic first episode of Smackdown! between Triple H and The Rock for the WWF Championship. Instead of the regular referee uniform of stripes and black pants, Michaels wore short-shorts and a tee-shirt promoting the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in Texas. Despite Triple H being his longtime friend and former De-Generation X partner, Michaels refereed the match impartially. That was until The Rock was about to hit The Game with The People's Elbow, and HBK super kicked him, handing Triple H the win in a DX semi-reunion.

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The next year he officiated another Rock and Triple H WWF title match, this time an Iron Man match at Judgment Day. As the winner of the first Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII, it was fitting he'd get to referee the second, and this time he wore a zebra shirt but no long pants. This time Michaels played it down the middle, but near the end of the match, he was knocked out and chaos broke out with DX and The Undertaker interfering. Michaels only saw The Undertaker tombstone Triple H as time expired, and thus The Game won the championship.

The main event of New Year's Revolution in 2005 was an Elimination Chamber World Title match featuring six former and future champions, and Shawn Michaels got to referee it. A young and unstable Edge started to get into HBK's face, and he responded with a superkick. While he was trying to keep Evolution member Ric Flair from interfering, the already eliminated Batista assisted Triple H in taking out Randy Orton. Thus Shawn Michaels raised Triple H's hand again at the end of a big match despite not making up as friends via kayfabe.

Michaels earned the Mr. WrestleMania name once more in 2012, saving his best refereeing performance for the show of shows. After falling short against The Undertaker in his last two WrestleMania matches, Shawn Michaels got another chance to break The Streak as the referee of The Undertaker and Triple H Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania XXVIII. Michaels was torn between helping his best friend end The Streak and trying to do the right thing, and was arguably the most interesting thing about the match. His Sweet Chin Music and Triple H's Pedigree on The Undertaker is arguably the greatest false finish in WWE history. In the end, Michaels allowed The Deadman to win and become 20-0 at WrestleMania, finishing one of the biggest storylines in WWE history.

That match would have been an excellent way for Shawn Michaels to finish his career as a ref, but he's called The Heartbreak Kid for a reason. Michaels refereed another Hell in a Cell match between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton for the WWE championship. Orton had been the preferred champion of The Authority, led by Triple H. Ultimately, The Game convinced his best friend to turn on his former student, and Michaels superkicked Bryan to give Orton the title.

Finally, Hell in a Cell 2013 remains the last big match Shawn Michaels has special guest refereed, capping off a remarkably epic career in the field. Today he works alongside Triple H in NXT, but if HBK could be brought back to the ring for one more match in 2018, he could easily come back in the zebra stripes.

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