5 months ago
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In the world of professional wrestling, every superstar and the fans watching the product have their dream matches that they hope to see go down someday. One dream match that fans never got to see was the encounter between Shawn Michaels and AJ Styles.
The Phenomenal One tweeted fan art depicting a staredown between him and Michaels in 2016 for the 2017 WWE Royal Rumble event, teasing a potential match. AJ Styles later stated in an interview that he would love to wrestle Mr WrestleMania in his hometown of San Antonio, TX.
The match didn’t happen, although Shawn Michaels admitted he had to turn down match against Styles at WrestleMania 33 and expressed regret. He stated he wished AJ Styles had been in WWE ten years earlier and acknowledged Styles’ talent.
In recent interview with Inside The Ropes, AJ Styles recounted how close the match came to being booked. He recalled asking current WWE CCO Triple H or someone else if Shawn wanted to have a match, but no one had asked Michaels directly. The former WWE Champion explained that he never got around to asking Michaels personally because they weren’t close enough, though their relationship has since grown closer.
Styles shared that even if he had asked, Shawn Michaels likely wouldn’t have agreed to the match. Michaels had previously explained that there wasn’t much to gain from the match, regardless of the outcome. Styles reflected on this, stating that while the match would have been fun, it ultimately wasn’t necessary. For AJ, the prospect was more about the learning experience.
“I remember walking up, it may have been Triple H or someone. I asked him, ‘Hey, does Shawn wanna have a match?’ And they’re like, I don’t know. [I said] ‘But did we ask him?’ And they’re like no. I never got around to asking him like I asked The Undertaker. I never got around to asking Shawn, we weren’t close enough for me to ask him something like that, I didn’t have his phone number, [we are] closer now. So I never called him out. But the truth is, he probably wouldn’t have that match anyway, because we’ve talked about it before. What is the benefit? Who benefits from the match? If Shawn wins, okay. If I win, okay. There’s a lot of truth to what he was saying when he told me that and it’s alright. It would have been fun to have but for me it was about a learning experience.”
While he did not have the match with Michaels, AJ Styles is set to battle Cody Rhodes tonight at WWE Clash at the Castle against Cody Rhodes. This will be their rematch from WWE Backlash France, but this time in an ‘I Quit’ match, with fans anticipating it to be one of the blockbuster matches on the card.
Would you have wanted to see the dream showdown between AJ Styles vs Shawn Michaels inside a WWE ring? Sound off in the comments!
