Shawn Michaels NOT Facing Grayson Waller At NXT Stand & Deliver, But Who Is?
HBK won't come out of retirement, but he found a 'suitable replacement' to seek revenge.
Ever since Grayson Waller began trolling NXT head Shawn Michaels, many have speculated that this could only conclude with HBK coming out of retirement to face Waller at Stand and Deliver during WrestleMania weekend.
The puzzle pieces were all there, and it made a lot of sense, right down to Michaels getting to have that "one last match" that gets the bad taste of the Saudi match with Triple H against Undertaker and Kane out of everyone's mouth.
But we learned Tuesday at NXT Roadblock that HBK will not be facing Waller at Stand and Deliver. Shawn noted that he's been offered so many opportunities to have post-retirement dream matches, especially at WrestleMania, and that Grayson wasn't more special than any of those superstars.
Instead, Michaels introduced his handpicked opponent for the obnoxious Aussie: Johnny Gargano. If you forgot, Johnny was drummed out of NXT in December 2021 when Grayson brutally attacked him during his farewell speech, so there's a revenge factor at play here. Throw in Michaels being a mentor to Gargano and this reveal - while somewhat disappointing - makes a ton of sense.
JOHNNY GARGANO IS BACK IN NXT!!!@ShawnMichaels has picked @JohnnyGargano as @GraysonWWE's #StandAndDeliver opponent ???#WWENXT | #NXTRoadblock pic.twitter.com/nWvAhYs0zM
— WWE (@WWE) March 8, 2023
Gargano/Waller should be a really good match, but we can't help but continue to play the "what if" game about HBK getting back in the ring. Who knows? Maybe he's keeping his powder dry for later. Or maybe this time he really is retired.