Shawn Michaels talks about how he ended up running NXT and who he wishes he could face off against in the WWE. Michaels is regarded as one of the best pro wrestlers of all time. In recent years he has taken his experience and knowledge and has started sharing it with younger talent in NXT.
Shawn Michaels has a bad reputation for his actions in the ‘90s and by all accounts he was not a great person back then. His past reputation makes his current position in WWE so unexpected and inspiring.
Synchronicity for Shawn Michaels
Since 2022 Shawn Michaels has been running NXT as its Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. However, it took a few years before he worked his way up to that position and started running NXT.
Shawn Michaels was recently interviewed by SPORTSNET and talked about how he found himself working in NXT. He revealed it was an accident which made him feel like he needed to be a part of NXT.
“It’s [joining NXT] like everything in my life, I haven’t tried or forced a lot of things to happen; I’ve sort of just gone where I feel like I’ve found the most joy or enjoyment of what I do. We came down here on vacation with the family from Texas, going to Disney World and stuff like that, visiting friends. I swung by the Performance Center, and just the vibe in the building. I don’t know, something that had not been in my heart for, I dunno, six or seven years after I retired, just sprung back up again.
“… I shared it with my wife and she looked at me and said, ‘Okay, that’s the look. She said, ‘I know what’s going on, I have to be honest, I didn’t think it would take this long. I was surprised that you walked away so easily. If you want to pack up and move from Texas, I’m on board.'”
Via Wrestling Inc.
From Disney World To NXT
That fateful trip to Orlando was sometime in 2016 or slightly before. In 2016 Michaels joined the team at the WWE Performance Center. His first role at the Performance Center was as a trainer for the finishing class along with Terry Taylor which is the last of the four levels of classes.
In 2018 Michaels began working as a writer and producer for NXT under Triple H. At that time Triple H was running NXT. However, in 2021 Triple H experienced a serious “cardiac incident.” During this time Michaels took over Triple H’s duties in NXT as he recovered. Triple H never came back to NXT and instead took on a larger role for the main roster. Thus Michaels completely took over Triple H’s former role.
A Great New Crop Of Superstars Since 2010
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In 2010 Michaels retired from the WWE. In the time since then a whole new crop of wrestlers have taken over WWE. Some of the wrestlers taking over WWE currently are wrestlers he helped to train in NXT. Seeing these wrestlers develop probably gives him the itch to have one last run in WWE and have matches against some of these guys.
Michaels revealed who are some wrestlers he wishes he could have wrestled before he retired. One even includes a wrestler who is often compared to Michaels and is sometimes mistaken for Michaels.
“There are a lot of people, honestly. After I left, it’s one of those things that you always, you know, think to yourself, ‘My goodness, if I was 20 years younger, 10 years younger, now 30 years younger.’ You see it, and again all for different reasons, you look at Seth Rollins, again, you know, even a guy like CM Punk, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, guys that I’ve got to coach them.
You think about having matches with Logan Paul’s the guy that’s, you know, very special. You feel like you go out there and, you know, sell my tail off for a guy like GUNTHER. There’s a lot of, obviously, a lot of potential out there with people.”
Via Wrestling Inc.
Since retiring from the ring Michaels has returned to the ring only once. At Crown Jewel 2018 he and Triple H faced The Brothers of Destruction, Kane and Undertaker. It looks like that is it for Michaels and the age of HBK is over.
With Shawn Michaels’ immense wealth of knowledge do you think he is the perfect guy to run NXT? Looking at his past are you surprised he has a leadership role in NXT? Out of all the guys he named, which one would you have been most excited to see him wrestle in his prime? Who not on that list from WWE would you love to see him wrestle? Let us know on social media if you think Michaels should or will take on a similar leadership role on the main roster.
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Sources: Wrestling Inc., SPORTSNET, Wrestling Inc.
