WWE News: Shawn Michaels talks about his classic match against John Cena, joining the New World Order

What’s the story?

Ahead of tonight’s Monday Night Raw 25th Anniversary celebrations, former D-Generation X member and WWE legend, Shawn Michaels, sat down for an exclusive interview with NBC Sports and spoke about some of his most memorable matches in WWE.

He even talked about his brief stint with the New World Order and some of the best moments of his Monday Night Raw career.

In case you didn’t know…

Four-time WWE World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, was part of the infamous D-Generation X faction, which also consisted the likes of Triple H, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and Chyna.

However, despite being regarded as one of the original members of DX, upon his return to the WWE on 3rd June, 2002, Michaels was introduced as the newest member of the newly reformed New World Order faction. The NWO was, of course, D-Generation X’s biggest rivals of all time, however, eventually, it was Kevin Nash who convinced Michaels to join the NWO after HBK’s 18-month absence from WWE.

The heart of the matter

While speaking with NBC Sports, Michaels spoke about a host of wrestling related topics and here are a few highlights from the interview:

Michaels said that his one-hour classic match against John Cena in 2007 remains as one of his favorite matches of all time. Michaels stated that while heading into this contest against John Cena, he and Cena were coming off another classic match at Wrestlemania 23 and because of that, they had ample things to work around during their second match in the UK.

“When you hear that the match is going an hour, it seems like a long time, but when you're working with someone like John so much … I've had the opportunity to go back and watch that match and it just flows right by. That's obviously a testament to John and heck I'll even pat myself on the back a little for that one,” Shawn Michaels stated.

According to HBK, he had no idea where the NWO was supposed to be heading, because he had just made his return to WWE following a hiatus of 18 months. Additionally, Michaels also said that he recalls the NWO turning on Booker T and The Big Show, however, despite that he still had no clue where the storyline was supposed to end because he was just finding his footing upon his return.

Shawn Michaels as a member of the NWO, alongside X-Pac, Kevin Nash, and Big Show

“I had no intention of wrestling at that point and then, of course, so many things changed after Kevin went down. I need to hunt someone down and find the answer," HBK added.

What’s next?

The next time we see Shawn Michaels embrace the wrestling ring will be later tonight at Raw’s 25th Anniversary special episode when he reunites with his D-Generation X buddies.

Author’s Take

HBK’s inclusion in the New World Order was definitely a very cool moment and they could’ve certainly built the new NWO around the likes of Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and X-Pac.