The very first Crown Jewel event held by WWE in 2018 saw Shawn Michaels come out of retirement for one last match and one last big payday.

The Heartbreak Kid (HBK) is one of the greatest superstars in WWE history, and included on many fans, wrestlers and pundits’ “Mount Rushmore” of professional wrestling. He also arguably had the greatest retirement match in history in 2010.

Having initially retired in 1998 at the age of just 32 following WrestleMania 14 as a result of a severe back injury, HBK returned four years later and if possible, the second act of his career exceeded his stunning first run.

He had a string of WrestleMania matches to match anyone, living up to his moniker of “Mr. WrestleMania.” There were classics with Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and John Cena, an all-out brawl with Vince McMahon, a World Heavyweight Championship triple threat match with Triple H and Chris Benoit.

There was also an epic retirement match with Ric Flair in 2008 at WrestleMania 24, where HBK put the lights out on the Nature Boy’s career. Or so we thought - Flair wrestled in TNA and only had his "Last Match" this summer.

Michaels had retired in the perfect way at WrestleMania 26

His final two ‘Mania matches were against The Undertaker, the opening half to a four-part series of D-Generation X vs The Phenom on “The Grandest Stage of them All.”

The first at WrestleMania 25 was an instant classic between the two old rivals, and one that should have main evented the show. The second one did at ‘Mania 26, a “Career vs Streak” match such was Michaels’ storyline obsession with defeating Taker.

Shawn Michaels retired at WrestleMania 26

Of course, HBK lost in one of the greatest matches of all time and with that his career ended, and in the most perfect manner. On his own terms after his initial injury-enforced absence, at WrestleMania, in the main event, against one of his closest friends and historic rivals and while he was still at his peak.

So many wrestlers had hung on too long, namely Flair, Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker (post-2014), or were not at peace with their retirement. But Michaels was seemingly different. He had his family and his faith, and rode off into the sunset never taking a look back.

The lure of a big payday brought Michaels back for one last match

That was until 2018 when likely as a result of the $3 million payday being offered by Saudi Arabia for one last match, The Showstopper decided to end his eight-year retirement at the inaugural Crown Jewel event.

The build for his return match came at the previous Saudi event, Super Show-Down, when he accompanied his DX buddy Triple H in his No DQ "Last Time Ever" match with The Undertaker, who had Kane in his corner.

The Undertaker and Triple H faced off at Super Show-Down 2018

In the climax of the match, HBK assisted The Game in his victory by hitting Taker with Sweet Chin Music. Afterwards, the four legends showed mutual respect before the Brothers of Destruction attacked the DX pair to close the show.

This set the scene for a tag team match at Crown Jewel just under a month later and Michaels’ shocking return to the ring.

D-Generation X vs the Brothers of Destruction should have been left in the past

As the four legends stared at each other in the ring prior to the match, fans chanted “This is Awesome” which was not a prelude of what was to come. The match was a complete car crash, hardly shocking given a combined age of over 200, the fact that none were full-time anymore and Michaels had not wrestled in eight years.

It also did not help that HBK had done away with the long locks and hair in general, and was sporting a fully bald head to match that of Triple H. The one-time young degenerates had aged spectacularly.

The four legends had a stare down prior to the match

Despite this, Michaels was arguably the best performer in the ring, hitting a moonsault that belied his age and generally looking okay. As for the rest: The Undertaker continued to look the shell of himself he had since 2014, Kane was sluggish with his mask coming off at one point and Triple H tore a pectoral muscle early into the bout.

DX secured the with a sweet chin music-pedigree combination on Kane, and with that Michaels went back into retirement. And was it worth it? Outside of the monetary gains.

The match was heavily criticised and seemed a waste

Critics and even fellow wrestlers panned the match, with Chris Jericho claiming it was “the worst match he had ever seen” and calling the decision to have four rusty legends square off a dumb idea.

Michaels, Triple H and The Undertaker largely echoed these sentiments in later years, stating that it could not have gone worse and was a total train wreck.

Shawn Michaels should have wrestled Bryan or Styles

The match was really nothing more than Attitude Era nostalgia and yet another time the main event spotlight was given to part-time legends over younger full-time wrestlers.

It would have been far more preferable for Michaels to either maintain his perfect retirement or return for a dream match against Daniel Bryan or AJ Styles and is likely something he regrets deep down.