Thank You Shawn!

I don't know what to say about Shawn Michaels. He's been around my whole life. I can say I will truly, truly miss him. Do I think he'll be back in some capacity? Not long term, a one night stint - maybe. I don't think he'll wrestle another match though. In a way I feel like this is Triple H's Swan Song too. We'll see what they do with him, but with another baby on the way for he and Stephanie - I don't think 2010 will be a very memorable year for The Game.

At first I wanted a huge, emotional ceremony ala Ric Flair for last night, but that last twenty minutes they gave him in the ring - just him, and his fans - was amazing. It was exactly the closure I needed. The hug between him and Triple H. It was exactly the way I wanted to see it end. I felt jilted. I didn't think it was actually over. I thought he'd go away for three months, and come back. It wasn't until Sunday night that I realized it was really, really, real. How they managed to give me my perfect goodbye in 20 minutes, I'll never know.

I hope Shawn doesn't go back on that. I hope he enjoys retirement, but I don't want him to play with my emotions. I'm going to MISS him, like he's a friend that's moving away. When the Rock left. When Austin retired. When Jericho took two years off. I didn't feel like I felt when Shawn gave that speech. As I reflected on it this morning, I thought of one simple statement. Simple, yet poignant. "I guess I have to grow up now." Triple H is the last wrestler left from my childhood. Sobering.

I didn't mean to get all depressing. Shawn had an amazing career. I love the fact that he's going to be with his family while he can still enjoy it. The speech is in 3 parts on Youtube if you missed it, or want to rewatch the whole thing. Here is the highlight video that WWE did to recap Shawn's retirement speech.