Shawn Michaels says WWE will continue to reach out to talent on the independent scene, as well as wrestlers who have competed in Japan and elsewhere.
Before the NXT 2.0 revamp in 2021, WWE often signed independent wrestlers and had them work on the NXT brand. This process shifted with the 2.0 model, as the emphasis was placed on collegiate athletes or others who recently graduated. Michaels remains at the helm of NXT, while Triple H now oversees all WWE creative.
Speaking with My San Antonio, Michaels made it clear that WWE will continue to sign independent wrestlers, and nothing is off the table regarding the company’s search for talent.
“We are still reaching out to other people with experience that have wrestled on the independent scene or been out in Japan or in other companies,” Michaels said. “That is something NXT will continue to do in the future. Nothing is off the table. We simply want to continue to find people that are just as passionate about the WWE product as we are.”
Michaels was also asked about the substantial changes to NXT in the last year, with the NXT 2.0 rebrand and the shift to a new philosophy. He described how it was a learning process that gave everyone involved the chance to grow together. He praised the team Triple H previously put together and stated that he sees the hard work paying off now.
“It was all very sudden for all of us. I’ve been with the WWE for 35 years and doing live television for almost 30 of them. When it comes to live television it is always a learning process because anything can happen, and a lot of things have happened that we had to adjust to and that is what this was. It was an event where we had to quickly make a lot of changes and get a lot of things accomplished. Getting trained for the fire drill is what working in the WWE is from a live television standpoint.
“It was a good opportunity for us to come together as a team and learn and grow together. I will say one of the greatest things I had is the phenomenal team that Hunter had put together previously, and I have a lot of great people around me, Matt Bloom, Johnny Russo and numerous others. But with everything you learn to do your best and take it in stride and learn from your mistakes and we have done that here was a team and done that with the young talent. I think the thing I am most proud of is that we are starting to be on the other side of that and we are starting to see the hard work paying off and are very excited for what the future holds for NXT and the WWE as a whole.”
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