According to HBK, original plans for AJ Styles were for him to face HBK and not Shane at Mania.
Him rejecting WWE's offer to wrestle and Lesnar rejecting facing Shane pretty much opened the door for Shane vs Styles to happen instead.
Quote:
AJ Styles is scheduled to face off against Shane McMahon at Wrestlemania 33. This is a match that has gained a lot of criticism from fans who don’t think that they are a good pairing. After the year AJ has had, WWE fans wanted to see him face an incredible wrestler on the big stage.
It turns out that AJ Styles was originally planned to face an incredible wrestler at Wrestlemania 33, it just fell through…..
The ‘Heartbreak Kid’ Shawn Michaels appeared on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast and revealed that WWE wanted him to face AJ Styles at Wrestlemania 33 but he ultimately declined.
“I could’ve had that match, they did not have an opponent for AJ at Wrestlemania”
Shawn would go on to say that he was approached to take on AJ because fans wanted to see the match. It also had to do with them not having any other plans for AJ at the time. Michaels declined, wanting to stay retired.
“I wish that man was here 10 years ago man, I really do”
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