Shawn Michaels, head of WWE NXT, is doing the media rounds promoting WrestleMania weekend, and he recently spoke to GV Wire’s ‘Off the Bottom Rope’ section to discuss a variety of topics, including his WrestleMania matches in Los Angeles, CA.
His Iron Man match against Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart at WrestleMania 12 still receives mixed reviews today, much like it did 27 years ago. While some were amazed by its pacing, others have criticized it for the same reason. After a grueling 60-minute match, neither wrestler managed to secure a fall. The match then proceeded to overtime, where Michaels finally emerged victorious.
Michaels addressed criticism of the iconic match, saying,
“Hindsight is 20/20, especially for the people that didn’t do it, you know what I mean? Understanding the business now and just the, the tempo of the business now certainly was different. Do I think (the criticism is) a little unfair? Obviously, I do. I think if it were somebody else other than myself, and Bret was doing it with somebody else, I think they probably might not get quite the hard time.”
“I always more so appreciated the risk that we were willing to take as performers to go out there and do that hour match at that time. Again, in the business, that was a huge risk from a company standpoint. It’s very challenging from a performance standpoint to do that. For anybody … to knock it, obviously, as somebody who’s never done it.”
In addition, Shawn Michaels competed in two more WrestleMania matches in LA. The Heartbreak Kid wrestled alongside Marty Jannetty against Haku and The Barbarian at WrestleMania VII.
HBK also recalled his instant classic against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21, deeming it his favorite of the lot. WrestleMania 21 emanated from the Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena), home to this year’s NXT Stand & Deliver.
