10 Big Money Matches WWE Needs To Make
9. Shawn Michaels Vs. Daniel Bryan
There’s no question that a match between Shawn Michaels and Daniel Bryan would steal the show on any card it appeared on, both in terms of quality and excitement generated.
Both men work a complementary style, fast-paced and dramatic. Both men are crowd favourites, and have a history that can be worked into a compelling storyline feud (Michaels trained Bryan, but would later side with his friends in the Authority when it came to their storyline grudge with Bryan in late 2013).
It’s a match made in heaven… but there is, of course, a significant stumbling block. Both men are retired, Michaels through choice in 2010, and Bryan for medical reasons in February this year.
The thing is, in the intervening eight months Bryan has maintained - to varying volumes and degrees - that he could still wrestle again if allowed to do so. Now, he’s an unreliable narrator when it comes to his own worsening physical condition, having lied or told half-truths about it for his entire career: swearing blind that he's just bought some magic beans that mystically transformed his latest career-threatening injury into a widdle boo boo.
Still, it appears at this stage as if it’s entirely up to WWE as to whether Bryan ever wrestles for them again. Michaels is a different proposition - all reports indicate that he’s very happy never to wrestle again, having knocked back WWE’s half-hearted efforts to entice him back pretty much every year since he retired.
This is wrestling, though: all it would probably take is the right offer from the right person at the right time… and at his special appearance at this year’s WrestleMania, unlike Mick Foley and Steve Austin, the Heartbreak Kid arrived in his ring gear, looking match-fit and ready for action.
Bryan’s position as Smackdown Live’s General Manager keeps him on television and in the media, as will his upcoming appearances on E!’s Total Bellas, and those Yes! chants aren’t going away anytime soon. Michaels, on the other hand, is still as beloved as he was when he retired six years ago.
If WWE were to sign off on a one-off in ring appearance for both men, there’s no doubt that it would be one of the creative and commercial highlights of the year.