Veteran raises question about AJ Styles' WWE SmackDown retirement speech
AJ Styles teased his imminent retirement on the May 31 episode of SmackDown before attacking Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Wrestling legend Konnan enjoyed the segment but questioned why Michin was not involved.
The promo began with Styles addressing the crowd with O.C. stablemates Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows alongside him. Michin, aka Mia Yim, is also part of the group. However, she was nowhere to be seen during The Phenomenal One's speech.
On K100, Konnan asked his former WCW co-worker Disco Inferno why Michin did not play a role in the segment:
"First question is, why wasn't Mia Yim there? She's part of your crew and you're retiring. Why isn't she there? She's still part of the crew. Why wouldn't she be there? Isn't she part of their crew?" Konnan wondered. [20:06 – 20:22]
Disco Inferno mentioned that Anderson and Gallows could work as bad guys alongside Styles as part of the storyline. Michin, by contrast, could continue performing as a babyface.
"She wasn't in on this," Disco Inferno said. "She's like babyfacing backstage. They didn't bring her out there because she wasn't in on what they were gonna do. Maybe they'll address that next week." [20:25 – 20:36]
Michin's most recent main roster match ended in defeat against Tiffany Stratton in a Queen of the Ring Tournament first-round bout on May 11. Since then, she has competed in two NXT matches.
How Konnan felt about AJ Styles' fake retirement
In 2013, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry famously pretended to retire on RAW before attacking John Cena. The segment resulted in Cena retaining the WWE Championship against Henry at Money in the Bank.
While Konnan suspected AJ Styles was going to attack Cody Rhodes in the same way Henry attacked Cena, he still liked the moment:
"He's [AJ Styles] in great shape," Konnan said. "He's not old, he's not hurt. You can still make a lot of money. Why would he be retiring? But they did a great job with it. The people got into it." [21:04 – 21:13]
Styles is expected to be Rhodes' next Undisputed WWE Championship challenger at Clash at the Castle: Scotland on June 15 in Glasgow. Scotland.
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Please credit K100 and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.