WWE Countdown, Season 1: Episode 4 – Biggest Backstabs
(Chosen by Walter Scott)
The first season of WWE Countdown saw many episodes that counted down some of WWE’s greatest topics. From Tag Teams to Managers, and even Biggest Blunders, generally speaking this Original Series is spot on it with its lists, but for some episodes you’ll see something that makes you scratch your head (such as the Anonymous GM being named a Top Ten General Manager, or Lay-Cool being placed ahead of The Dudley’s/Team 3D on the Top Ten Tag Teams).
The one episode for me that suck out like a sore thumb was the fourth episode of season one which counted down the top ten biggest backstabs. This episode stuck out to me the most because as a wrestling fan for most of my life, I always thrive for that shock factor from a Superstar, Diva, Tag Team, or even Authority Figure that leaves me having to pick my jaw up from the floor. This list however was submitted before Seth Rollins “sold out” and turned on The Shield, so that didn’t make the list. One moment that stands out on this list for me was Mr. WrestleMania himself – Shawn Michaels who turned on his former Tag Team partner in The Rockers, Marty Jannetty when he hit him with a Superkick and then shoved his head through a glass window. I personally wasn’t alive for this moment, but as a wrestling fan, no other “heel turn” has ever turned one Superstar, Diva, Tag Team, whatever into the mega star that Shawn Michaels became after this happened. Shawn went onto Main Event WrestleMania against the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in Boston, he went on to help the WWE win the Monday Night War against WCW Monday Nitro when he formed D-Generation X with a future hall of famer in Triple H.
That moment defined Shawn Michaels as a man you cannot trust not only as a partner, but also in numerous other fields such as a special guest referee. His most recent referee role was at Hell in a Cell 2013 where he turned his back on his former protégé Daniel Bryan in the main event and cost him his chance to become WWE Champion against Randy Orton.