Latest Rumor on Shawn Michaels' WWE Comeback

Shawn Michaels' appearance on Raw seems to have amplified speculation on him potentially returning to the WWE ring. Earlier this week, The Undertaker seemed to be the favorite pick for HBK to meet at WrestleMania, but now two more names have surfaced.

According to Barn Burner's Fire Up podcast, WWE Champion AJ Styles and NXT hero Johnny Gargano have entered the discussion of HBK's possible opponents. Even more, the report indicates that Michaels carries an "80%" of making a comeback.

This comes on the heels of Tuesday's rumor that WWE is using Undertaker and Triple H's Super Show Down match to build towards a WrestleMania 35 collision between Michaels and The Deadman. Given the dialogue in their Raw segment, this would seem like the likelier probability, but even still, it's a long shot.

Styles and Gargano, on the other hand, are certainly intriguing options. If Styles and Michaels were to meet, Styles would have to drop the WWE Championship. WWE has plenty of time to do that between now and April. For Gargano, one would think he'd need to be promoted to the main roster first. However, he and Michaels could easily headline NXT TakeOver.

While it's fun to play what if, we're willing to bet the chances of Michaels returning are still very slim at this point. While the 53-year old looks great, he's remained steadfast in his retirement. However this summer he did indicate he'd come back fro a low stakes match, preferably tagging with an older wrestler.

But in an interview with Inside the Ropes, Michaels seemed to walk the idea of him wrestling back, citing that he could not be the Shawn Michaels we all fell in love with.

"Let's just say I did it and the match is phenomenal," HBK explained. "The reality is this hairline is still what it is -- like it's all hot and sweaty -- and even if the match is phenomenal and everything else, you're still gonna bust my chops because I've got no way not to expose to you that I'm 53."

"That's the thing -- and I don't mean it in a bad way -- but you want me to kip up and everything look as if it was 1996, '97. That's not gonna happen because father time waits for no man," he said.

"There's a lot of stuff like what do you do and even does the young guy benefit when all is said and done. I don't know, it just seems like more trouble than it's worth," he said.

[H/T Ringside News]