Recently returned star says The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels inspired him to make his WWE comeback

WWE Superstar Johnny Gargano has revealed that The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were instrumental in his recent return to the company.

During the August 22 episode of RAW, Johnny Wrestling made his triumphant WWE comeback after being away from the ring since December 2021. A significant impetus that inspired him to return was the iconic WrestleMania 26 hype video featuring The Deadman and The Heartbreak Kid.

Speaking on After The Bell, the former NXT Champion said that the viral song Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush, featured on the hit show Stranger Things, reminded him of the promo video mentioned above.

"The first thing that popped into my head was ‘wait a minute, that’s Shawn [Michaels] vs The Undertaker’s song from WrestleMania’. But that’s where my mind went, i was like ‘I remember that.’ I watched the hype video for Shawn and Taker from Mania and I sat there in the kitchen i watched this hype video and it just hit me watching this video, I was like ‘this is what I wanna do, like I want, this is where I wanna be and this is what I wanna do, this is why I got into this.'" (31:42 - 32:53)

The legendary match between 'Taker and Michaels took place in 2010, where The Phenom retired The Showstopper from WWE. However, Michaels later returned for another bout and teamed up with Triple H to outclass The Brothers of Destruction in 2018.

Top WWE star almost faced off against The Undertaker instead of Shawn Michaels

The WrestleMania showdowns featuring the two iconic performers are arguably the two greatest matches in WWE history. However, the sequel to their first encounter wasn't the original plan for The Show of Shows.

WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre revealed in an extract from his book A Chosen Destiny that the company initially planned for him to face The Undertaker instead of Michaels.

"The inevitable goal was to have a big match between him and I. I believe it led to, instead of myself and Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker, the retirement match, which was obviously a phenomenal match." (H/T Give Me Sport)

Drew McIntyre was relatively inexperienced inside the squared circle back then, and WWE ultimately chose to showcase the rematch between the two legends instead.

Would you have liked to see a young Drew McIntyre face off against The Undertaker? Let us know in the comments section below.

If you use the quotes, please credit After The Bell and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.