With the Royal Rumble headed back to Shawn Michaels home turf of San Antonio in 2017, and old HBShizzle appearing to be in great shape at WrestleMania 32 in Texas last Spring, there’s been a lot of wishful thinking about the Hall of Famer returning to WWE for another match.
SmackDown Live’s AJ Styles generated some buzz by Tweeting a fan-created Rumble poster which featured him staring down the Heartbreak Kid. All evidence points to that - and all other fantasy booking which featured Michaels working an official match - being a total pipe dream. Even in great shape, Shawn’s 51 years old with a history of back problems, and has stated on multiple occassions his intent to honor the retirement stipulation of his last match against Undertaker in 2010.
But that’s not stopping the chatter - especially from guys on the current WWE roster.
Add Raw’s Seth Rollins to the list (not that List - he’s already on there several times, anyway).
In a recent interview with The Gorilla Position podcast (transcription via The Sun) given during tWWE’s just-wrapped tour of the United Kingdom, Rollins talked about how - like a lot of current pros - he’s modeled his career after HBK:
I would never compare myself to him, but like a Shawn Michaels, a guy who can do everything. I’ve always prided myself on doing different types of matches with different opponents.
Which is one of the reasons he’s sees himself as a better match-up for Michaels, if he returned. But that’s not the only problem he has with the scenario AJ floated. Rollins thinks any comeback by the Showstopper should happen on the Grandest Stage of Them All... so he proposed a Rumble match to determine who gets to face Shawn at Mania:
If he’s ever coming out of retirement it better be at WrestleMania. Kudos to AJ for giving it a shot but he can take a backseat. I would like that match before he gets his hands on Shawn. A lot of people would pay good money to see Shawn and AJ.
Me and AJ might have to fight it out. Winner gets Shawn.
We already know that Michaels is probably not down with any of this, so it’s probably all just hypothetical. But...
Would you be interested in Styles vs. Rollins at Royal Rumble for the right to face Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 33?