Shawn Michaels: I Tell Talent That The Hardest Work They’re Ever Going To Do Is Creatively
Shawn Michaels comments on the importance of talent owning their own creativity, using D-Generation X as a good example of why it’s important for wrestlers to have creative freedom.
D-Generation X recently celebrated 25 years since their formation on the October 10, 2022 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw. Behind the scenes, Triple H is now in charge of all WWE creative following the retirement of Vince McMahon, and Shawn Michaels has taken over for Triple H and is in charge of the WWE NXT brand.
During a recent interview with Graham “GSM” Matthews, Shawn Michaels spoke about Triple H preparing for this role for the better portion of the past decade of his life and spoke about the irony of the anti-authority D-Generation X now leading the charge in WWE.
“Certainly there’s a difference of what you do from a storyline standpoint from back in the day with DX taking over and fighting authority and all that and you fast forward all these years later,” Michaels told Bleacher Report. “It’s no secret everyone knew Hunter was eventually going to be someone in control or very close to it. He’s been readying himself for that for the last decade.”
Furthermore, Shawn Michaels utilized D-Generation X as an example of why it is important for today’s wrestlers to own their own creativity.
“DX has always been given a lot of free rein because it was a different entity in itself, and it’s built on not doing stuff the right way,” Michaels said. “I don’t think anyone would try to scalp DX, so to speak, because that’s just anti-productive to the characters and team as a whole.”
“I try to tell the talent that the hardest work they’re ever going to do is creatively,” he added. “I think what made DX and the Attitude Era what they were was trying to think ahead of the times we were in. We just felt a change and a wave coming very different than what wrestling was. We wanted to take it from a traditional and purist standpoint into something more as sports entertainment.”
During a media call following Halloween Havoc, Shawn Michaels said that he is looking at 2023 as a major pivotal year for WWE NXT. One major element of NXT that will be changing in 2023 is the development of a WWE NXT Europe. You can read Shawn Michaels’ comments on the upcoming brand at this link.
On the most recent episode of WWE NXT, Ava Raine made her debut. Raine is the daughter of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Shawn Michaels recently commented on his relationship with The Rock. Read more here.
