Shawn Michaels Discusses Temporarily Running NXT Following Triple H’s Cardiac Event
Shawn Michaels has been running NXT 2.0
Shawn Michaels has had many nicknames in WWE. “The Showstopper”, “The Main Event,” “Mr. WrestleMania”, and of course, “The Heartbreak Kid.” Now, his current title is Vice President of Talent Development. He and his best friend Paul Levesque, Triple H, have been running NXT for several years and when Triple H underwent surgery following a cardiac event, Shawn Michaels stepped up for his friend.
Speaking about the experience with Sports Illustrated, Shawn Michaels noted that it is only temporary and that everybody misses Triple H but for HBK, this was an easy decision to help out his friend who’s always helped him through rough times.
“Trying to step in and fill his role is impossible to do,” says Michaels, whose official title is vice president of talent development. “Everybody here misses him unbelievably, especially me. But I always go back to this—everything in real life takes precedence over everything else. This was a situation where my best friend needed my help and needed me to step in, so I look at this as an opportunity, in a small way, to thank him for everything he did for me earlier in my career.
“Taking over the responsibilities here is a drop in the bucket compared to what he did for me all those years back. I’m honored to at least have the opportunity to pay him back a little bit and be there for him. That’s what this whole company does—this whole relaunch has been everyone pulling together, and I’m energized and inspired to keep this NXT territory going strong during his absence.”
Speaking about the recent changes to NXT, Shawn Michaels noted that the business is constantly evolving, dating back to when he first started in the territories.
“Doing this now for 35 years, I’ve seen constant change, and change is certainly not new to us in WWE. It’s constantly evolving and changing. I’ve heard people call this a refresh, but it’s still the same crew, which is great because they’re so damn talented. It reminds me of the Attitude Era. We had the same roster the day before the Attitude Era started, and I still remember Vince coming into the locker room and making that speech, inspiring us and making us hungry for the future. That’s what this is—turning over a new leaf, restructuring a few things, and putting a brand-new coat of paint on a dominant and incredible brand. It’s chummed the waters, so to speak, and that’s fun to be around.”
Fightful will have live coverage of WWE NXT 2.0 Halloween Havoc tonight at 8 p.m. eastern time.
