WWE brass had reportedly asked Shawn Michaels to come out of retirement for an absolutely amazing prospective match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 33. Fans immediately salivated at the idea of Mr. WrestleMania and The Phenomenal One duking it out.

This idea was never meant to be as Styles ended up taking on Shane McMahon at The Ultimate Thrill Ride instead. Observers seemed to think that the match would be lackluster and were prepared to see a major talent likely wasted at the biggest event of the year.

Surprisingly, their bout ended up being a bright spot in one of the better Manias in recent memory because of the exciting nature of the two performers.

McMahon was up to all of his old tricks off the top rope and Styles lived up to the billing as the best technical wrestler in the business.

HBK chose not to participate because of respect for how his career ended and because he wanted to see younger stars flourish with the company. Recently on Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, he revealed some details on how his work developed in later years, especially with Hulk Hogan.

He said: “Let’s just say, look, you could say I didn’t do a good job, but, I mean, you go and watch some of my work from, I don’t know, ‘96, I bounced around all the time.

You look at Ziggler now, I mean, if what I did in the Hogan match was overselling, then what Dolph does on a regular basis, or Billy Gunn, when Billy’s a heel, that’s just, a lot of it is how we worked.

“I was out there trying, obviously too hard, I guess, in some people’s eyes. I was just trying to make it a good match because I felt like it wasn’t going to be.”

Those are harsh words for Dolph Ziggler who has been consistently trying to work his way up the ranks his entire WWE career. Michaels is an absolute expert in the ring though, and if anyone’s critique should be taken seriously, it is his.

That match with Hogan wasn’t the absolute highlight of HBK’s career and that is an absolute fact that he admits to here, but everything would seem to pale in comparison when placed against his earlier career achievements.

Luckily for many fans, the lasting memories of the Heartbreak Kid will be of the epic WrestleMania showdowns with the likes of The Undertaker, Bret Hart and Chris Jericho. He has no plans to get back into the ring and that might be the best move for everyone.