Shawn Michaels Says He Could Have Made More Working WrestleMania Than WWE Crown Jewel
E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness recently returned from hiatus with none other than special guest WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels. Among many other interesting topics, Michaels talked about why he agreed to return to the squared circle after eight years. Also, Michaels discussed whether he would consider wrestling again.
According to Michaels, he will not be wrestling again. Apparently, 'The Showstopper' only agreed to tag with Triple H to take on The Undertaker and Kane at WWE Crown Jewel because it was essentially a special request for the pro wrestling legends to perform their "greatest hits".
"I'm glad to say that I did it, but I don't want to try it again." Michaels explained, "negative. Yeah, yeah, so, look, the one upside is? again, you're always just curious, 'can I do my stuff?' So, technically, yeah, I could go in there and do my stuff and have the young guys work around me and all of that. But the 100% only reason I said, 'yes' to this one was, one, it was a special request by other people. And, again, it was a chance? I looked at it like someone is asking the Stones and KISS to come over and just play their greatest hits. That's it."
While many people speculated that Michaels returned at Crown Jewel for the big payday, he noted that he would have made more money wrestling a single's match at WrestleMania. In the view of 'HBK', there was less anxiety working with Triple H, The Undertaker, and Kane than wrestling a performer he has not tangled with in the past.
"Unfortunately, everybody feels like it was all about the money and this, that, and the other. And I mean it respectfully, of course, but, technically, I'd make more money doing a single's match at WrestleMania. Do you know what I mean? Because that brand is bigger. I'm charging more for a single's match! Do you know what I mean? But I didn't feel like I was put in a position in this particular match to be that guy. Do you know what I mean? And everything else about working with a younger guy at WrestleMania puts me in a much tougher, more difficult situation performance-wise. And that's something I had been consistent about over the last eight years. I didn't want to be put in that position because I'm good with the performances that I've had at WrestleMania. I wanted to end those the way that I ended them." Michaels added, "[Crown Jewel] just happened to be a special thing that again in a million years I didn't think would come up, but it did and that honestly is the only reason why I said, 'yes'."
Also during the podcast, Michaels claimed that he is held to a higher standard for his in-ring work than Ric Flair when 'Naitch' was wrestling in his 50s. 'H-B-Shizzle' averred that fans gave 'Naitch' a pass that he would not be afforded.
"I go out at 53 [years old] after eight years and I think it's passable from everybody's standpoint." Michaels recalled, "I don't care what anybody says. When I came back in 2002, I mean people saw my first match back and immediately, I mean, it took one day to go back to them holding me to the standard that they held me [to] in '96 when I left. Do you know what I mean? The only thing is that, and it's a good problem to have, I wouldn't get held to the same standard that Flair gets held to. If he doesn't do everything spot on or perfect, that's fine. They still give him some grace, and some mercy, and all of that. [Edge and Christian] know as well as I do that I won't get that. I miss a step, I do one thing [incorrectly] and they'd be all over me, so it just doesn't work. And I don't say that bitterly. It's just one of those things that, and, again, it's flattering. Yeah, I'm held to an unfair criteria and I'm one with that, but I'm also not going to try to live up to it either because I don't think any man can."
Check out the podcast here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness