Shawn Michaels was a recent guest on the State of Combat podcast. During the appearance, he revealed that it was never in the plans for him to face Dolph Ziggler at Summerslam 2019. He also discussed making his wrestling return in Saudi Arabia, how important that it was in a match with Triple H being involved and whether or not he feels like he still has it. Here are the highlights:
On Why He Didn’t Face Dolph Ziggler At Summerslam:
I never know when the phone call is going to come and I’m going to jump on a plane. I was just sort of doing what I was asked to do. If nothing else, with all these years later, after 30 years, I’m a pretty good employee. I just do what I am told, so to speak. It was fun to do but there was absolutely no thought of me and Dolph or anything like that. It was always going to be Bill Goldberg, but perhaps they needed somebody to light the fuse for Dolph Ziggler in that respect and I was the guy to do it as best as I could.
On Teaming With Triple H In Saudi Arabia:
I guess it was because it was a totally different situation. At that point in that match, it was a special request from my boss. And again, I guess I always felt that if I am not doing WrestleMania, that was the one that anybody – I guess if I was going to come back, [going to Saudi Arabia] was the one I was going to come back to. I just feel like if you are in a tag match, it’s not the same thing. I know it’s not right to say it. I don’t mean it in a negative way, but to me, it just felt like a house show that somebody asked you to make. And I went ahead and did it in a tag match, and got it over with.
It’s one of those things that it’s funny because for 10 years, you think it’s going to go away. But after a decade where people are going to keep asking, sometimes the best way to have people to stop doing it is to just do it, but do it only kinda, which is what I did. And now nobody talks about [me returning], which is nice.
On Still Feeling Like He Has It:
The most important thing to me was being in there with Hunter. More than any reason at all, that is why I did it. As silly as it sounds, I am so fortunate to have the last ride with your best friend in the sunset, which is what I wanted to do with him. I was pretty certain. I know me, but I have always been a bit concerned saying it out loud for fear that it was the one time that I can’t. I have always felt confident about doing my parts, to be perfectly honest.
There’s just isn’t going to come a day where I can’t nip up, I can’t drop an elbow, when I can’t move a little bit across that ring. That’s just something that I don’t think is ever going to leave my system unless, of course, when I am really old. But even now, I still run across the ring and nip up. It’ll be a few years where I can’t do that kind of stuff, but I am always confident that I can always do that. The unknown is that you don’t know when the wheels can come off, which is why I always stay out of the ring. Better safe than sorry.
You can listen to the State of Combat podcast HERE.
Credit: State of Combat. H/T WrestlingInc.
