Simply put, 1995 was likely the worst year in WWE history. From a ratings standpoint, in-ring quality standpoint and overall product standpoint, it’s hard to find a year in WWE that was worse than 1995. Vince McMahon was high on Diesel at the time and he wanted to make him the central figure of WWE.
However, Diesel just so happened to be the lowest-drawing WWF Champion of all time and he wasn’t given much to work with either. It was one of those transitional years where the product as a whole was in a big lull. Either way, they did bounce back the following year. This isn’t to say that 1995 didn’t have good matches – they were just far and few in between. Here are the five best matches of 1995.
#5.) Diesel vs Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania
The WWF title match didn’t main event the show at WrestleMania XI. Instead, they were the co-main event, though the match was still a highly-anticipated one. Shawn Michaels had Jenny McCarthy cornering him, while Diesel had Pamella Anderson in his corner. Sid was the person trying to interfere on behalf of Michaels.
It was a good story dating back over a year, as Diesel was Michaels’ bodyguard until November of 1994. Vacating the tag team titles meant that he went after the WWF title and won it from Bob Backlund in a matter of seconds. This would begin Diesel’s monster push and he faced his former ally and Royal Rumble winner Shawn Michaels.
The dynamic that the two had was portrayed very well in the ring and Diesel was a hot babyface in the match. He ultimately ended up winning the bout as Vince McMahon declared him as the “leader of the New Generation”. The only hiccup of the match was the botched jackknife powerbomb from Diesel.
Next Page: 5 Best WWE Matches Of 1995
