Andrew Ravens
Shawn Michaels has given a direct answer to one of professional wrestling’s most frequently asked what-if questions.
Speaking on 7 pm in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, Michaels explained why a dream match between himself and The Rock never took place at WrestleMania, and he did not mince words about the reason.
“He didn’t like me,” Michaels said. “I think in years he got, there’s a big kerfuffle in the wrestling business about Hunter and me doing stuff to him and being mean and stuff like that. All of it has been blown out of proportion. None of it was even accurate, but those were things that when he was younger, he was fed a lot. But later on, and to this day, we get along, and we talk about stuff.”
Michaels attributed the animosity to misinformation passed along to Rock early in his career, alleging that Michaels and Triple H mistreated him. He pushed back firmly on those accounts, calling them inaccurate and exaggerated, while acknowledging that the perception shaped Rock’s feelings toward him for a significant period of time. The two have since moved past it, with Michaels noting that they get along and speak with each other today.
Even if the personal issues had been resolved sooner, the timing might still have made the match impossible. By the time Michaels returned from the back injury that sidelined him for several years, Rock had already made the transition to Hollywood and was no longer a full-time WWE presence.
“That’s what I think everybody would have liked to have seen,” Michaels said (H/T to WrestlingNews.co). “But by the time I came back, he was well off into his Hollywood career and stuff like that.”
Despite never having the match, Michaels spoke about the Rock with admiration. When asked to compare the two, he deferred without hesitation. “What are you gonna say? I mean, the guy came in, and I can remember seeing him on Saturday Night Live the first time and just thinking to myself, holy cow, this guy’s gonna be a huge star,” Michaels said.
Michaels also reflected on Rock’s early WWE run, when he was introduced to audiences as the son of Rocky Johnson and received “Rocky sucks” chants from crowds not yet sold on him.
“When he first went out there, he was getting a lot of the ‘Rocky sucks’ chants and stuff like that. So there’s always ribbing and stuff like that in the locker room,” Michaels said. Rock’s response to that rejection, according to Michaels, is what ultimately defined his career trajectory. “He recognized that and felt like you got to come back with something a little bit harder, a little more aggressive. And then he changed that up. And after he did that, and they put him with the Nation, he really began to take off from there.”
