As WrestleMania season approaches, the rumors of a Shawn Michaels return match are bound to surface once more.
Last year, Aj Styles fueled the fire of a rumor that had Styles and Michaels heading for a clash at WrestleMania 33, but the match never materialized.
Michaels was recently interviewed by the Daily Mirror UK and discussed the Styles rumors.
“There was talk about it possibly happening at WrestleMania. I think he’s 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.”
If Michaels were to be an active superstar there are a few names at the top of his list.
“Honestly, my answer is always ‘gosh, most of them’. Because there are so many. Being there for so long, I had a match with just about everybody. Now I go and it’s nothing but new and fresh faces. And different styles. You can’t help but think ‘I could do that with this guy and this with that guy’. 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.”
Michaels also discussed his favorite Royal Rumble event.
“Well it’s got to be the one I went in first and won [in 1995]. More importantly because of the way that one ended. That was very different at the time, we did something new and creative, giving you the impression Davey Boy Smith won [Smith threw Michaels over the top rope and celebrated but Michaels, who had only touched the floor with one foot, attacked Smith from behind and eliminated him]. That’s when we first started to really think creatively outside the box with the rumble and do something different. That was my favourite because of the way it ended.”
And Michaels is sticking to retirement.
“It’s very important that continues to happen and the only way for it to do so is for some of us in a dignified way to walk away. Much as it would be interesting to be in there with some of those young men, it’s their time now and I think it’s important that we focus on them and the future of the WWE.”
