STATE COLLEGE, PA – Feb. 21, 2005 - Monday night was a big night for Shawn Michaels. Aside from teaming with Randy Orton to defeat Edge & Christian, the Heartbreak Kid also publicly challenged Kurt Angle to a match at WrestleMania 21.
During the Royal Rumble in January, HBK eliminated the Olympic gold medalist from the contest. Soon thereafter, Angle illegally re-entered the ring, eliminated the Heartbreak Kid, threw him into the steel steps, and proceeded to secure him in an Ankle Lock submission.
Due to Kurt’s actions at the Rumble, and his comments towards Shawn last week on SmackDown!, Michaels approached Theodore Long Monday night and asked that he pass his challenge along to Angle on Thursday. Long agreed.
Later in the night, Orton and HBK teamed against Edge & Christian in a wild affair. The Legend and the Legend Killer defeated seven-time World Tag Team Champions, but as Michaels made his way to the back, he was viciously attacked by an enraged Edge. Immediately following the assault, HBK had to be helped to the trainer’s room. Next week, Michaels will meet Edge in a no-holds-barred Street Fight.
But before HBK left the Bryce Jordan Center located on the Penn State campus, he stopped to answer a few questions for WWE.com. Here’s what he had to say…
WWE.com: First of all how are you feeling?
Michaels: I’m a little battered and bruised, but I’ll be ok. After next week, you may not be able to say the same for Edge.
WWE.com: How come earlier in the night, you decided to ask Theodore Long to challenge Kurt Angle to a match at WrestleMania 21?
Michaels: Well you saw what he did to me in the Royal Rumble – he cost me an opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship – and you heard what he said about me on SmackDown! And now that we know he’s not going to compete for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, his WrestleMania plans are wide-open. Plus since WrestleMania is the only pay-per-view where RAW Superstars can take on SmackDown! Superstars, I think WrestleMania 21 is the perfect place for us to settle our differences.
WWE.com: How do you think you two match up against one another?
Michaels: I think we match up well. You know I’m always looking to forge new ground at WrestleMania, and Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels are two of the top competitors in this industry ever, so I think that the two of us against each other is a win-win situation for everybody involved. I’m always looking to go to WrestleMania, and give folks something to remember, and I think I’ll be able to do that against Kurt Angle.
WWE.com: By challenging Angle, do you think that you might be looking past your current rival, Edge?
Michaels: No, I mean Edge and I have had our match, and we’re going to meet next week in a Street Fight. So I certainly didn’t look past anybody. When I think WrestleMania, I think of something fresh. Every time I step in the ring at a WrestleMania I’m looking to do something historic – something people will remember for a long time. Edge and I already had a match at the Royal Rumble, basically, I’m looking for something new, and something different.
WWE.com: Why do you think he attacked you after your tag team match tonight?
Michaels: Because he doesn’t like me. I think that perhaps he does feel that I’ve disrespected him by looking ahead towards Kurt Angle, and that’s certainly understandable. And like I’ve always said, I have a tendency to get on people’s nerves, and I’m fine with that. He has shown me that obviously I am on his nerves, and he wants to hook up one more time. So that’s fine. We’re going to do that next Monday. I’m always up for anything. I’ll wrestle whoever attacks me, whoever offends me, whoever asks me, whoever jumps me. But really all you have to do is ask me, because I’m not someone you have to talk into a fight.
WWE.com: Do you think this rivalry between you and Edge will ever be over?
Michaels: I think like all things, nothing is ever completely over. It may go away for a while, but you never know. Folks here tend to hold grudges, and he may continue to hold one, but if he does, he does. But whether it’s a year from now, two years from now, or six months from now, I’ll be obliged to give him another fight.