WWE News: HBK opens up about rumoured match with AJ Styles and who he would face on the current roster

What's the story?

Shawn Michaels will be one of the legends who will be in attendance on Monday Night as Raw celebrates its 25th Anniversary from the venue where the show originally debuted in New York in 1993. The WWE Hall of Famer will join his former DX members as part of the first reunion in more than a decade and it seems that Michaels has been able to share some interesting opinions ahead of his return.

In case you didn't know...

Micheals retired from WWE following WrestleMania 26 when he was unable to defeat The Undertaker, for the past eight years the former World Champion has refused to return to the ring in a physical capacity stating that he wanted his retirement to be the thing that meant something.

Michaels has returned a number of times in a guest referee capacity, most recently at an NXT Live Event in San Antonio Texas back in November when he refereed Adam Cole's match against Drew McIntyre and was able to slip in a Sweet Chin Music.

It was rumored last year that HBK would be returning for one last match against AJ Styles at The Royal Rumble but it was never something that came to fruition, despite AJ himself tweeting an image that made it seem as though he was open to the idea of competing against The Heartbreak Kid.

Interesting photo..... is it not? pic.twitter.com/MKgF4XoAF1

— AJStyles.Org (@AJStylesOrg) October 20, 2016

The heart of the matter

Michaels recently spoke to The Mirror in the UK ahead of the 25th Anniversary of Raw, where he talked about his favorite moments from the past as well as who he would choose to face out of all the wrestlers on the WWE roster currently.

He said: "Honestly, my answer is always 'gosh, most of them'. For me, it's most everybody because it's 100% variety. In the eyes of a WWE fan this would be fresh and new because it's absolutely nothing they have seen before.That was very hard to come by when you were there for a long time.You have to step away for a long time and have that whole deck reshuffled. It's been almost 10 years since I retired. I'm not trying to dodge the question ha ha. There is just a litany of guys. I can go from Braun Strowman to Finn Balor and then you think about all the different guys between."

Shawn also finally addressed the rumours surrounding his return to face AJ Styles last year, in a match that the WWE Universe was completely behind, but it never happened.

He revealed: "There was talk about it possibly happening at WrestleMania. I think he's an an unbelievably talented young man. I wish I was 10 to 15 years younger because there are so many great guys. But it's very important to me, I wouldn't have retired unless I was ready to walk away. I'm flattered that every year when WrestleMania comes up people talk about me coming back, but I enjoy my time with my family, I enjoy watching WrestleMania and I also enjoy watching WWE move into the future."

What's next?

Michaels will be part of the 25th Anniversary of Monday Night Raw on January 22nd as the company celebrates an incredible achievement by inviting back some of the superstars who have helped to shape Raw into the show that it is today.

Author's take

Michaels was a superstar who said that when he was retired, he would not return, this was always a point he could continue to reiterate. It's great that he has stood by this even though it' obvious he is itching to return, Michaels wants to be remembered for the matches he had that were show stealers, not a return match where he won't be at the same level. It would be fantastic to see him in the ring again one day, but it seems that Michaels has made his mind up and is enjoying retirement.