With social media buzzing over a poster, AJ Styles tweeted of both himself and Shawn Michaels taking part in a stare down. The question is, at this point in time, is it really a good idea to have them face each other?
A few weeks ago, AJ Styles passed along an image of him and Shawn Michaels facing off against one another. The concept certainly had the social media world buzzing, and the thought of the two of them facing off made fans salivate. However, while reasons why they should face each other had been tossed around, there are good reasons as to why they shouldn’t.
The Phenomenal One is currently at the top of the Smackdown Live world as the current WWE World Heavyweight champion. He faced off against the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, and John Cena, and through it all remains as the face that runs the place. And now something as innocent as a photo-shopped poster has created a buzz that has made a number of fans clamor at the possibility, while others whose fandom started after the heyday of Shawn Michaels are left scratching their head as to why they should even care.
Does the possibility of a Shawn Michaels’ help or hinder Styles’ reign? There are a number of fans that believe it will only benefit him, while this particular list suggests that it’s a bad idea right from its initial concept.
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5. Shawn Michaels Age
They say that age is just a number. However, in the case of Shawn Michaels, the number counts. He is 51 years old, and while some people consider fifty the new forty, his age is a concern when he steps into the ring. Considering the countless injuries his body has absorbed, the notion of him competing at his current age raises the concern what new injuries he could suffer in a match. Not to mention past ones that could get re-aggravated.
When Sting faced off against Seth Rollins at the 2015 Night of Champions, the 54-year-old finished the match with a severe injury that saw him brought to the hospital by ambulance, and has forced the end of his career. The Shawn Michaels fans are used to seeing took risk after risk, and he would be facing someone who is twelve years his junior. In order for them to manage to make this match work, it would take a lot of great timing, with the risk taken that even the slightest miscue could go very, very wrong.
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4. Ring Rust for Shawn Michaels
Michaels walked away from the ring in 1998 after suffering what was believed to be a career-ending back injury. When he returned four years later there were questions how he was going to be able to adapt. That was answered, as he managed to once again take risks that he had become synonymous with, and did the things that fans had grown to love. However, while he went on to have some of the best matches of his career against the Undertaker, Chris Jericho, and Ric Flair, when he first returned he was working with his best friend Triple H, who would ensure that every risk taken was calculated, and matches were structured to minimize the impact of ring rust.
That is a concern that will again pop up if he was to face Styles. AJ at 39 years old is still able to compete at the highest level possible. While Michaels was an incredible performer in his lengthy prime, there is no certainty that he could keep up after being out of the ring as long as he has.
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3. Is He Taking Away Another Potential PPV Match from Another Talent?
The competitive nature between Raw and Smackdown leads naturally to the athletes that make up those brands bringing their best in the ring. And if there has been one thing that Smackdown Live has prided itself on, it is the ability to put on new and fresh matches between these ambitious young talents. These fresh matches make fans stand up and take notice, as they are not close to growing stale. Indeed, part of the rationale of the brand split was to create opportunities for underused talent already on the roster.
A potential Michaels/Styles match up could place that fresh match-making in jeopardy. The concern is that it could take away an opportunity from a younger aspiring talent that is trying to earn credibility and believability. While the James Ellsworth story line isn’t something to take too seriously, Apollo Crews, Dolph Ziggler, or potentially someone from NXT could provide a match fans would clamor to see happen. It doesn’t seem like the best move, if the company is advocating a new era, to highlight past talent instead.
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2. Michaels Already Had a Proper Retirement
Whenever a wrestler retires in a storyline, it’s considered doubtful that their career is truly over. When Michaels lost to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, it was a match that had so much emotion that told such an incredible story, so to tamper with it takes away its value. A battle between Styles and Michaels once again will trivialize the character’s word. Does Michaels probably have ambitions of stepping back into the ring? Without question. However, his character once said that if he lost that match then ‘he has no career.’ And that final, hard-fought battle with the Deadman, and the storyline that led up to it is an integral part of his legacy.
In some ways, for Michaels to end his retirement could tamper with the mystique created around the Undertaker character. Crossing paths with Styles may be something that fans want to see happen, but fantasy booking isn’t always believable, and it isn’t the type of send-off that should happen for Michaels. He already received an outstanding send-off when he walked away from the ring years ago.
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1. Newer Fans May Not Be Able to Connect to HBK or Know His Value
We may think he’s cool and some may even think he’s sexy, but other WWE fans may not get what the big deal is with Michaels. When we think about the WWE’s attempt to bring up Sting’s past and how much value he held to WCW, it was incredibly difficult since it was twelve years removed from when he competed for WCW before that promotion closed its doors. Similarly, Michaels is several years removed from competing in a WWE ring.
Longstanding fans can certainly see the value in having Michaels face-off against Styles. However, for fans that came in more recently and are a younger demographic, they will have to depend on the word of their parents or what commentators say about Michaels’ career accomplishments. Regardless of whether they are able to watch old footage of Michaels matches, fans need to watch a performer live in the present day in order for them to care. The booking of this match is, unfortunately, a few years removed from conceivably having a newer generation be able to connect to it.
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