No he doesn't
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WWE offered Shawn Michaels a Wrestlemaia 33 match against AJ Styles, he declined
- Thread starter ElectricBlanketFire
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well he had an excuse, he was always fat as a wrestler. Austin didn't even try.
I don't think he runs the whole PC, just a small class of talent getting ready to be called up to the main roster.
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!
Member
As long as a MRI on his brain isn't part of the physical
Bruce Springsteen
Member
If anyone has heard a Shawn Michaels interview since he has retired they would know there would be no chance he would ever come back. He has said so many times he ended his career perfectly and Didn't want to be one of those people who kept coming back for one more match. He is not a person who is driven by money and fame anymore (in terms of wrasslin).
Exactly, he mentioned in his book a few times he told Vince he didn't want to be the champion
Exactly, he mentioned in his book a few times he told Vince he didn't want to be the champion
This.
This is just a simple case of WWE getting desperate around WrestleMania, which happens every single year.
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!
Member
Ok, he is still employed by the WWE though.
The Horror the horror
Banned
Haven't seen wrestling in forever but HBK was always one of my favorites.
Is it true his post-Hell in the Cell career (where he broke his back) was every bit as entertaining as his work before the injury?
Is it true his post-Hell in the Cell career (where he broke his back) was every bit as entertaining as his work before the injury?
Unspeakable Evil
Member
Clearly most fans don't care so I can't get too upset over it.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Better.
Someone in WrassleGAF pointed this out yesterday - but this story shines a light on the fact that they didn't have a plan in place for AJ Styles at WrestleMania even when he was reigning WWE Champion.
A lot of people would argue that his run from 2002 onward was better. Plus he was generally a better person too
A lot of people would argue that his run from 2002 onward was better. Plus he was generally a better person too
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!
Member
It's close. A lot of people prefer the pre injury character (it was actually the Royal Rumble a few months later where he got injured) because he was a huge asshole and afterwards became a born again Christian who rarely was a heel. The match quality is similar though.
Bruce Springsteen
Member
Then it is stupidity on the WWE booking team for banking on a Shawn Michaels return
I also think Shane/AJ will steal the show
Net_Wrecker
Member
His style changed slightly as he got older and because he rarely played the heel after 2002, but a lot of his greatest matches come from the back half of his career.
Paracelsus
Member
Dog chasing its tail. They book their weekly world champions as midcarders, they gain no star power, proceed to bury them come WM season to put part-timers over then are shocked and appalled when they realize they have nobody on the card, and go on calling more part-timers after one more year of midcard world champions only the smarks care about, as ratings have been confirming for months.
At this point it would not surprise me if Cena getting sidelined wasn't actually part of a long term plan to make him the next year's big part-timer, possibly against Taker or Reigns himself.
Bruce Springsteen
Member
More classics than you can count when he returned, it was MJ returning for this second 3-peat
Paracelsus
Member
"Wrestlemania is the draw", that is their booking, they don't give a crap as long as they can fill the card. If they could get Austin to wrestle, belly and all, they would.
The Horror the horror
Banned
HBK after his return from the back injury in general just seemed way more focused on actually putting on good matches instead of fueling his ego like he did back before his injury. I'm sure a lot of that was due to the life changes he went through during his absence from wrestling as well. Pre-injury HBK and post-injury HBK were almost two different people
By putting on an all time great match with Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25. His match against Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24, while not a perfect match, was some of the best in-ring storytelling I have ever seen
By putting on an all time great match with Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25. His match against Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24, while not a perfect match, was some of the best in-ring storytelling I have ever seen
Sir_Crocodile
Member
On the one hand HBK keeps himself in great shape and would almost certainly come back and have a 5 star match with AJ even at 51 because he's Shawn Michaels.
On the other hand I super respect HBK for being the one guy to whom retirement means retirement, and going out at the top of his game.
On the other hand I super respect HBK for being the one guy to whom retirement means retirement, and going out at the top of his game.
Says a lot about the state of the company that they'd turn to a man who retired 7 years ago rather than give someone like Sami Zayn a tilt at AJ.
Fuck then their next choice is to give the match to a 46 year old who has never been a wrestler and whose best matched were stunt exhibitions from 15 years ago.
Fuck then their next choice is to give the match to a 46 year old who has never been a wrestler and whose best matched were stunt exhibitions from 15 years ago.
That ladder has been top by other wreslter and it really easy to top that iron Man match.
Net_Wrecker
Member
With matches against Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, and an amazing feud with Chris Jericho.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Overall quality of work in my opinion, especially his Mania matches and programs with Angle/Jericho.
whatevermort
Member
I genuinely think AJ/Shane might be match of the night. AJ's going to want to prove he can get Shane's best match ever out of him, and Shane's going to want to prove... Well, the same. I have a weird feeling that, for all the shitty booking and annoyance it's even having to happen, it'll be a bit of a milestone.
And then AJ'll move to Raw and get to fight Shinsuke and Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn and KO for a year. Maybe even a program with Brock before Roman gets back into the title picture. It'll be fine.
And then AJ'll move to Raw and get to fight Shinsuke and Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn and KO for a year. Maybe even a program with Brock before Roman gets back into the title picture. It'll be fine.
I still remember the WrestleMania party I was at for the first Taker/HBK match. I've never seen one room of people mark out so incredibly hard for a match and get so invested in it. For those 30 minutes everyone reverted back into being a kid and thought wrestling was real again.
RecRoulette
Member
That match would have been awesome but I respect his ability to stay retired.
AJ vs Shane is going to be one of those "Oh god why" matches where Shane takes WAY too much punishment for no good reason. I bet Shane takes some shit like this.
AJ vs Shane is going to be one of those "Oh god why" matches where Shane takes WAY too much punishment for no good reason. I bet Shane takes some shit like this.
... off the top of the titan tron or something
The Albatross
Member
Agreed. Match quality was always great, but the storylines for Shawn following his injury was always "You're interested in this match because Michaels is the showstopper," and that was it. Where as his other great storylines/feuds you were interested in matches not only because Michaels was the showstopper but because there was other interesting storylines attached to it. The undisputed IC champ for the Razor/Michaels ladder match, the feud with Jennety was so unrealized because of Jennety's drug abuse but there was such legitimate heat for it, his Bret Hart feud, etc.
Matches were still usually great, but you lost an aspect of believability in his personality. When he was playing a heel he also seemingly always made it clear that he was playing a heel, where as Michaels prior to his initial face turn/losing smile, was a heel and such a believable heel.
Disagreed about the WM10 ladder match. One of the first times that a gimmick match paid off in its first appearance. IMO, it wasn't the best match at WM10 (Bret vs. Owen, for me), but that match happened at a time when gimmick matches were almost always terrible. I can't think of another time a gimmick match debuted for the first time and was a run-a-way hit... Maybe Hell in a Cell, but Hell in a Cell wouldn't become what it was until Taker/Mankind 3 years after it's debut.
Thinking about the other gimmick matches that appeared around the first ladder match... Freaking cattle prod match w/ the Mountie and Big Boss Man, Blindfold match (not the first, but first in a while) between Jake Roberts and Martel, the carnie shit that WCW was throwing out. I think you'd have to go back to the first Royal Rumble for a gimmick match that really worked in its first time, but even the first two Royal Rumbles were pretty shit and they didn't have the spots figured out. Plus, Jim Duggan and Big John Studd...
Yeah AJ is phenomenal and the WWE should have picked him up years earlier
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Backstage segment with Enzo doing a promo for KFC Georgia Gold.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
I still loved the hogan heel run. The larry king skit and "who's your daddy montreal" are two of my favourite wwf moments ever.
Rated-Rsuperstar
Member
This is the same company whos heavyweight champion of the world is a 50 yr old dude that doesnt wrestle, "wrestling" another old dude who doesnt give a shit either. Nothing is surprising anymore. God help them if undertaker dies, there goes there one big mania match each year.
ZombieSupaStar
Member
Its as good but the heel dickhead persona is gone now, except briefly with Hogan.
Net_Wrecker
Member
Those are some of HBK's best promo work. The heat in that Montreal promo and how he milks it with his 97/98 style delivery is just ridiculous. I wish he played the heel more post-comeback, even if he wasn't as crass as the late 90s.
Ban Puncher
Member
Violence Jack
Member
I remember during the WWE panel at San Diego Comic Con, AJ asked the audience who would we like to see him in a match with. Like 90% of them said HBK, while the others said Nakamura.
AJ is gonna be just like HBK vs Rock. Dream match, but will never happen. Especially now.
They really should've just put AJ in the WWE title match and made it a triple threat rather than him squashing Shane.
AJ is gonna be just like HBK vs Rock. Dream match, but will never happen. Especially now.
They really should've just put AJ in the WWE title match and made it a triple threat rather than him squashing Shane.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
By the high school...
Yuuuuuuup.
I'm of the belief they were entertaining that idea if the Shane idea didn't work out. If AJ wasn't being paired with Shane, I think he definitely would have been in the title match.
Amazing. I had no idea.
AJ vs Shane is stupid and out of left field. Why must he insert himself into these matches?
No way Triple H's best bud is going to job to a tna guy at wrestlemania.
No way Triple H's best bud is going to job to a tna guy at wrestlemania.
Mechanized
Member
I could see Shawn coming back to give AJ the rub. He really has no other reason to come back, winning wouldn't do anything for anyone.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
AJ's incredibly over. He doesn't need it.
Shane's there because they didn't have any good options left for AJ. The problem is that the WM card is set in the Jurrasic era, and so when guys like Edge or AJ get hot, they don't have the ability to adjust on the fly.
Ban Puncher
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