Shawn Michaels segment with The Undertaker on Monday Night Raw opened the floodgates for speculation on if HBK is planning on wrestling again. Michaels was adamant for years that he did not want to go back on his word and would stay retired. However, just a few weeks ago, he seemed to have softened his stance on retirement. Michaels didn’t open the door completely but said that if he were to wrestle again then he would want to work with his friends in a tag team match because he didn’t feel like he could live up to expectations if he wrestled against someone like AJ Styles.
It looked like the plan is for Michaels to do something on WWE Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia that would set up his return match. For whatever it’s worth, Michaels is being advertised locally as the special referee for Triple H vs. The Undertaker.
In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed that there are indeed plans for Michaels to wrestle again and the match would happen sooner than many people think. “The working idea internally right now is that Michaels is coming out of retirement,” Meltzer wrote, “Right now it is not for a singles match, and it is targeted, if not scheduled, for Saudi Arabia on 11/2.”
If you are wondering why Michaels would come out of retirement on that show and not wait until WrestleMania, it’s because there is so much money to be made by working on the Saudi Arabia show. The Greatest Royal Rumble show was a bigger show from a financial standpoint than WrestleMania.
It’s interesting that the plan is not for a singles match, which would seem to indicate that he would team with Triple H against The Undertaker and someone else.
WWE wanted Michaels to wrestle on the last Saudi Arabia show in April but they were turned down. The Prince of Saudi Arabia was a big fan of 1990’s WWF which is why names like The Undertaker, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross were on the show in April. He also wanted Yokozuna and The Ultimate Warrior but obviously, that was not possible. It will be interesting to see who else is brought back for the show in November.
