What’s the story?
The WWE Network’s original show Table for 3 recently featured an episode titled ‘Common Bonds’ starring Shawn Michaels, AJ Styles and Kevin Nash.
‘The Heartbreak Kid’ spoke about why he wasn’t interested in losing his comeback match and revealed why his rumoured match against Styles didn’t come to fruition.
In case you didn’t know...
Shawn Michaels (Michael Shawn Hickenbottom) competed in the sport of professional wrestling from 1984 until his retirement following a Wrestlemania rematch with the Undertaker in 2010.
Rumours were rife that Mr Wrestlemania, who is now 51, would make his return to the ring against Styles- a matchup that ultimately didn’t come together.
Also read: 5 insane moves AJ Styles doesn’t do in WWE
The heart of the matter:
Michaels noted that coming back to the WWE for another run would do nothing more than alienate his current run from, what he feels, was a perfect ‘story’ that he narrated through his matches during his time with WWE that ended at Wrestlemania 26.
Furthermore, he opined that besides the fact that he wouldn’t want to lose his one-off comeback match, he’d also be doing the 39-year old Styles no favours as he may not be able to keep up with the younger man, in the ring. Here are a few excerpts from his statements (Transcript courtesy WrestlingInc):
"When we finally got the chance to be talking at The Rumble, I said, 'you're (AJ Styles) a bright young man. That's tremendous. Clearly, Old Man River here, I appreciate it because you're keeping my name out there.' But the thing is, in all the years, there has always been speculation about whatever, me coming back, it has never gotten so high as to where different writers or this person or producer, have asked. But for the first year ever, this is the first time Vince (McMahon) asked."
"I'd do (Styles) no favours and I've given (Nash) my best. There's absolutely no way at 51, I'd (be my best level). Again, just because you can still do it, I still can't do it at the level that I did, I don't think."
What’s next?
Shawn Michaels presently works for the WWE as an ambassador and serves as a trainer at the Performance Center.
Author’s take
My hat is off to HBK for being realistic in his assessment of his career, as of now. His legacy is more than secure, and he doesn’t have to step back into the ring to prove anything. Although AJ Styles vs. Shawn Michaels would be one hell of a matchup, we must respect the fact that the latter has chosen to stay retired.
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