A major rumour was spread prior to this year’s Royal Rumble which suggested that AJ Styles will take on Shawn Michaels at the event.
Styles was the WWE champion at that moment. It was speculated that Michaels would return to in-ring competition in a title match.
The rumour turned out to be true with many amongst the WWE creative accepting the legitimacy of the news. This would have resulted in a dream match for the pro-wrestling lovers.
These two are considered as the greatest in-ring technicians of their generations. So, a hype was already built around this year’s Royal Rumble event around this match.
However, it never came to fruition since Michaels did not want to return to the squared circle to have some more matches. Instead, he was happy to be a part of the pre-show panel in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
Interesting photo….. is it not? pic.twitter.com/MKgF4XoAF1
— AJStyles.Org (@AJStylesOrg) October 20, 2016
After last night’s Raw, WWE released the latest edition of ‘Table for 3’ on the WWE Network, exclusively. The guests on the show were Shawn Michaels, AJ Styles, and Kevin Nash. The inevitable topic was brought into the discussion and both of them addressed the elephant in the room.
Styles went on saying that he hoped to get into the ring with the heartbreak kid at the Rumble event. But, Michaels came up with a negative answer and said he never had the opportunity to wrestle him.
Michaels too stated that Vince McMahon indeed offered him for the dream match against the then WWE champion. But, the show-stopper was happy to continue his role at the WWE performance centre. He does not want to increase the workload by performing in the ring, again.
The WWE Hall of Famer mentioned that AJ is one phenomenal athlete and he sure could have found a dream opponent in him. Their match would have torn down the house and one of a kind to remember throughout the ages.
Previously, Michaels has also turned down the offer of wrestling Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 30. Considering Styles is the latest edition of the list, it’s safe to say that he will not lace up his boots ever again.