Why Shawn Michaels Refuses to Consider Crown Jewel 2018 as His Final Match

Shawn Michaels’ last-ever match took place at Crown Jewel 2018, where he teamed up with Triple H to take on the Undertaker and Kane. While many consider that his last match, Michaels has now explained why he refuses to consider that as his final match.

While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Shawn Michaels explained why he refuses to consider his 2018 Crown Jewel tag team match as his true retirement bout. Instead, he views his WrestleMania 26 match against The Undertaker as his real final match.

According to Michaels, the Crown Jewel match did not feel meaningful or like a proper ending to his career. He described it as more of a fun, one-off reunion with friends in D-Generation X, comparing it to a band like KISS performing without its original members. To him, it was simply a night of hanging out and wrestling with his buddies.

“It’s why that match doesn’t do anything for me, it doesn’t affect me. I don’t consider it my last match. My last match is the one with Undertaker. The other one, I don’t know—it was a tag match, it was DX. I feel kind of bad because I don’t mean it in a negative way, but that was just sort of like, I don’t know, it was like KISS going out and not even with the original members playing a concert.”

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Michaels believes his true last match was at WrestleMania 26, where he faced The Undertaker in what he considers the perfect ending to his in-ring career. Even though he later appeared as a referee and participated in special moments, he says those appearances were never meant to be and still are not part of his official wrestling legacy.

“It felt like a special, separate one-off. HBK, Mr. WrestleMania—that ended with Taker at WrestleMania. I still came back and refereed the match with Taker and Triple H. I don’t consider those a match, a single performance by me, HBK, by that guy. That’s not who that was. That was a dude hanging out with his buddies and having a match. So one was the artist, the other one was hanging out with his buddies.”

Nonetheless, Michaels draws a clear line between his real goodbye at WrestleMania 26 and the fun DX reunion in 2018. This shows he cares more about stories, emotion, and character than just big shows. By not counting Crown Jewel as part of his career, he shows how much he values his legacy and what a true retirement match means to him.

Do you agree with Shawn Michaels that WrestleMania 26 should be considered his true final match, or do you count Crown Jewel 2018 as the official end? Sound off in the comments.

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