During their careers, Dwayne Johnson and Shawn Michaels wrestled many of the biggest names that WWE has ever seen, although notably never each other.
In fact, there has long been speculation that the two men didn’t get on going all of the way back to the 1990s.
There have been suggestions that the issues are linked to Michaels disrespecting Johnson’s grandmother, while others believe the tension comes from HBK’s general attitude backstage during the Attitude Era. Speaking in 2021 Bret Hart noted that Michaels and Triple H would try to “ruin” anyone linked to him. This led to the pair trying to “crack” the star known as The Rock.
Although Michaels has since stated that things were never as bad between the pair as many would believe.
Speaking in a new interview with Alex McCarthy for the Daily Mail, HBK broke down why a dream match between the two legends never happened.
“Everyone knows the story of me being difficult, having a huge change of heart and coming back in 2002.
I was always open to it but it didn’t work out. He became an incredibly busy man and famous guy and everything else and I would imagine his priorities changed quite a bit, and the things he wanted to do I think he did and I respect that.
We all change and we grow,’ he said. ‘I for one always go back to the Hall of Fame when we did get to see each other and talk with each other and make peace. But that’s the thing I’ve had the opportunity to do with everyone that I’ve worked with and that’s what’s most important to me.”
Will Dwayne Johnson Be At WrestleMania 39?
Many believed that Dwayne Johnson would be returning to the ring at WrestleMania 39 to face Roman Reigns in a huge main event, but those plans fell through. In January it was reported that the star had informed WWE that he wouldn’t have time to get into ring shape for the match.
However, a long-time friend of Johnson and former WWE writer, Brian Gewirtz recently claimed that this isn’t the case, although he didn’t offer the “real” reason.