WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels recently spoke with Inside The Ropes about all things pro-wrestling, including whether he was ever set to be involved with Bret Hart’s feud against Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 26 given his long history with the Hitman. Highlights from the interview are below.
Says there was never a chance he would have been involved in the Bret vs. McMahon match at Mania 26:
No, no, no. Not to my recollection. No, that was a 100 percent total separate thing and I’m sure, creatively, I don’t even think someone would have talked about that because, of course, you’ve got the I Quit Match or, I’m sorry, the career-threatening match, whatever it was we called it. So I’m certain they wouldn’t want to mix or have there be any confusion between the two. So, no.
How he was happy just to have the Hitman back in WWE:
To me, again, it was just so great to have Bret back, to be perfectly honest, so I think that was kept totally separate than anything else.
How his classic at Mania 25 gave him perspective on hanging em up at Mania 26:
Well, so – certainly not just another day at the office. I can say that. It was very special and, again, those things that are the greatest – you ask ten different people, you get ten different answers. What I do know is that’s the one for me that felt… That’s what enabled me to walk away. That’s what enabled me to have that piece of going back. Even though, again, I did one more thing – but that was the one that just put everything in here in perspective, that gave me the ability to say, ‘This part of my life is done and I’m now looking at moving into the future’ and so for that, it was one of the greatest moments, certainly professionally, that I’ve ever had, because that’s important. You know, this line of work is awesome and when you do it, you do it for a reason – because it’s a part of you – and it’s very hard to leave that behind. So, again, that that’s why that moment is very, very special to me.