Shawn Michaels views WWE Crown Jewel 2018 match as ‘a special, separate one-off’

Though he came out of retirement eight years later, Shawn Michaels still views WrestleMania 26 as his actual final match.

Michaels ended his career in grand fashion when he lost to The Undertaker in the main event of WrestleMania 26 in 2010. He stayed away from the ring for several years after that but ended up coming back in 2018, returning in Saudi Arabia at WWE Crown Jewel 2018. He was part of a very poorly received tag match where DX (Michaels & Triple H) faced Undertaker & Kane.

On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Michaels said the Crown Jewel match doesn’t have an effect on him one way or the other. He views it as a “special, separate one-off” rather than his actual retirement match.

“I don’t know, it was a tag match, it was DX,” Michaels said. “That just felt like a special, separate one-off. HBK and Mr. WrestleMania, the Showstopper, whatever that was ended with ‘Taker at WrestleMania. Because I still came back and refereed the match between Hunter and ‘Taker [at WrestleMania 28]. And again, will always play a role in the WWE.”

Michaels further explained that, in his mind, Crown Jewel 2018 was just him hanging out with his friends.

“A single performance by me, by HBK, by that guy — that’s not who that was,” Michaels said. “That was a dude hanging out with his buddies and having a match. That’s, I don’t know. One was the artist. The other one was a dude, like I said, hanging out with his buddies.”

Michaels, 60, now oversees WWE NXT with the job title of “Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative.” He made an appearance on TV this week to celebrate NXT’s special Homecoming episode at Full Sail University.