How Much Did 2002-2010 Improve HBK's Legacy?

Yeah, his run from 2002-2010 cemented him as one of the greats. We got all of these great feuds from his ones vs. Undertaker, Triple H, Jericho, Cena, Angle, Orton, Edge, Benoit, Flair, and we got some one off matches against guys like Mysterio and Benjamin. Shame he never got to go up against Punk, Bryan, and a few others from today.

I'd say it put him in the top 20 of all time. His character wasn't great, but his matches were generally better.

Had he retired at 98, he'd have probably been seen as a midcarder who when he got given the title couldn't run with it.

I love mid 90s HBK, but man he was absolutely incredible during his second run. Honestly, after that run I'm not sure there's anyone in WWE history that's had that many great matches.

It simply added to his already great career but people overrate his second run big time.

In-ring wise yes he had some great matches but people act like everything he did was gold when he put on good matches and duds like everyone else. For example his match with Flair at WM24 was a dud to me but people act like it is a 5* classic because of the finale 10 seconds. Doesn't change the fact the match was average at best. His match w/ Taker at WM25 was easily the best match of the night, but to call it the best match ever at WM, let alone the greatest ever is giving it too much credit. His feud in 2008 w/ Jericho produced some good matches but I'd take their WM19 match over anything they did in 2008.

Character wise I hated him from 2006-2010. When he first returned he was fine. Even though he "found religion" he still kept a slight edge to his character. When he reformed DX it all went downhill and it was sad IMO watching a guy in his 40s try to act like a goof ball and spewing bad sophomoric jokes.

I'm not an HBK hated. I loved HBK in the 90s. I loved him during his first few years after making a full time return. Great talent but to say he is a top 2 star of all time is absurd. The guy was good in the ring and had a great character during his first run but was never a top draw and was never the face of the company. He seems to be held in higher regard than he should because of the WWE revisionists and the majority of the IWC buying that crap. The guy simply never left wrestling besides for his 4 year hiatus unlike top names like Hogan, Rock, and Austin and thus benefitted greatly from it like his buddy HHH.

I could make an argument to put him in the back half of my top 10 of all time if I really wanted to but I'd be more fine putting him somewhere in the 11-20 range at best.

His 2nd run absolutely trumped his first, so completely transformed despite already being a great.

Major improvement, completely overshadowed his first run

Huge! Arguably his best years, which is amazing. Don't get me wrong, aside from the Summerslam 02 match with Trips, Michaels wasn't exactly the HBK of old when he first came around, and I would include his brief stint with the title in that period. He looked...off. He wasn't quite the same, he wasn't the showstopper, and wasn't really a character. He pretty much looked and acted like a freshly born again christian who was kind of having an identity crisis, sort of out of his element. This is no knock on the man, just an observation. It seemed that he lacked the confidence, possibly still haunted by his sins of the past or the man he once was. That switch didn't really turn until about a year or 16 months later. After that...hoooooo boy! Some of the best matches ever, and most of the best matches of the 2000s. He got his confidence back, his attitude was back, he was cocky again, and a total character; the REAL Shawn Michaels. That's what he remains to this day, the REAL, over the top (in a good way) Showstopper that he was always meant to be. I would definitely say that this is Michaels true prime, which is saying quite a lot.

If it didn't transform his career, it took it to a whole other level.
I think Shawn not only gained the respect of a whole different generation of fans, but the respect of his peers.
I always wished he had held more titles during his second run, though.

A major improvement than his first run as he carried himself much more mature than he had in the '90s. It was great to see that after having major back surgery that he could make a return and compete for another 8 years and go out on his own terms.