Shawn Michaels On If He Considers Himself One Of The Greatest Of All-Time

Former WWE superstar and WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels recently sat down to do an interview for an episode of Rasslin' with Brandon F. Walker. During the interview Michaels is asked which of the In Your House matches from the 1990s was his favorite.

"I would say the [match] with Jeff Jarrett," shared Michaels. "Because it was the one that was in the original In Your House [concept]. It was Tennessee, it was fun, it was good guy vs. bad guy. It was a very traditional type of match. All those other [matches] are so fantastic, but at that point [the pay-per-views] were becoming bigger than In Your House. So, I always go back to that one with Jeff and it was such a blast and was easy to do, no pressure. Jeff Jarrett and Road Dogg were flying all-over the place. Jeff and I had worked with each other a thousand times, and he was so unbelievably talented and an easy bad guy to dislike. So, it was one of those worlds where all the traditional wrestling stuff applied, and it was fun to do."

However, Jim Ross chose a different In Your House match as the answer to a question that asked which match did the most for Shawn Michaels' career.

When discussing Michaels' career, he was asked what part of his career he considers to be his prime. Michaels asks if they are talking about physically or mentally, but goes on to give separate answers to the question.

"I guess physically, I'd say probably from 1995 to 1997, physically and athletically," answered Michaels. "[Michaels points to his head] Up top? Probably I'd say from 2000 to 2007. I might have slowed down a smidge, but just wisdom, psychology, and honestly, sheer enjoyment, and being easier to deal with, and all those things. It really is a tale of two different lives mixed up in one dude."

Michaels is also asked whether he enjoyed working with bigger wrestlers or smaller wrestlers more. The Heartbreak Kid says that the thing he liked most about his career was that he didn't have one specific style, and that he would always adapt to the other wrestler's strengths to put together a great match.

"Honestly, that's what I enjoyed most about my career," reflected Michaels. "Everybody almost has a style, and it took me a long time to realize I don't really have a style. One of the things I did was I adjusted and adapted to everybody. I think that's what gave me the opportunity to have so many different matches, and pretty darn good matches, with a lot of guys. Because that's what I enjoyed most about it. Not putting myself in a box and adjusting to whatever it was that they did very well. And I guess, when everything is said and done, that's probably my best strength, which was my adaptability. But it also really kept me in the area that I enjoyed most, which was, 'How do I make this the best match possible.' And sometimes if you have painted yourself into a certain style, sometimes that can make it a little bit more difficult. I didn't go in planning it that way, but that's how it ended up turning out."

The host of the interview also asked Shawn Michaels if he considers himself to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time. Michaels says he doesn't, but that he would have had a different answer when he was younger.

"I don't," Michaels quickly answered. "But it's funny when you're younger, because certainly you do. But I don't know, I now have the ability to see everything in the rearview mirror. Technically, at 56-years-old, I am back to where I was at 19. Where I was just realizing that my idea of success was having a car and a one-bedroom apartment, and maybe one of the main guys in a local territory in South Texas. Obviously, it has become so much more than that. I am now unbelievably flattered that I get mentioned. Look, people argue about it, whether who is or who isn't, and my name is in there. And that, to me, is good enough. That is beyond my wildest dreams. Those things never get determined, and every generation is different. Again, I'm just glad to be at this point in my life and look back on a really cool body of work that I'm proud of."

You can listen to the interview in full below. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Rasslin' with Brandon F. Walker with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.