Shawn Michaels Comments on Daniel Bryan's Wrestling Return

Shawn Michaels is no stranger to comebacks.

In 1998 "The Heartbreak Kid" was at the top of his game in the wrestling world just as the highly-lucrative Attitude Era in WWE was getting underway. However an unfortunate back injury during a match at the 1998 Royal Rumble forced Michaels into an early retirement, with his final match being the main event of WrestleMania XIV against Stone Cold Steve Austin.

But after four years of hard work and rehab, Michaels returned to the WWE and had a successful six-year second run with the company, main eventing multiple WrestleManias and earning one more run as world champion.

WWE's YouTube channel caught up with Michaels on Saturday and askd him how he felt about Daniel Bryan's upcoming return to wrestling at WrestleMania 34.

"Like everyone else I was thrilled for him, because I know what it's like to be forced away from this before you're ready to let it go," Michaels said. "I know this is a special moment for him, clearly it's an unbelievably special moment for the fans. This isn't a comeback, this is a second chance. He's a wonderful young man and I know he's going to make the most of his opportunity, that's for sure."

Michaels was one of multiple wrestlers to help train Bryan during his early years in 1999-2000.

"I knew he was talented from the day he that I saw him, from the first time he walked into Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy," Michaels said. "He was a hard worker, he was unbelievably talented but, like me, one of the things I knew was going to be an uphill battle was his size. You know that he's going to be successful, but I don't think any of us anticipated this. He's become the underdog. I don't know that anybody has captured that quite like Bryan has. certainly at this time it's a great thing to see."

"When doctors tell you you can't do this anymore, it's heartbreaking," Michaels continued. "The truth is it's a lot easier to leave on your own terms than it is to have to be forced out one someone else's terms. And now he's got the opportunity that very few people have, and that's to have everything."

In his first match back after nearly three years away from the ring, Bryan will team up with Shane McMahon to take on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on April 8.

"He's going to get an opportunity, a second chance at a career he loves being in," Michaels said. "And that, as far as I'm concerned, that's living Heaven on Earth."