Shawn Michaels’ run as an NXT coach took an unexpected turn for him since coming back under the WWE banner, but the Heartbreak Kid loves every bit of it.
“The Showstopper” along with Kliq co-hort Triple H were the latest guests on Corey Graves’ WWE After The Bell podcast and Michaels talked about how much he enjoys punching in at the WWE Performance Center everyday, even if it is on a more full-time basis then expected.
“I gotta tell ya, it’s been fun. It’s been a total blast but it really is as Hunter said it, it really is a third brand now because I can tell you that it started out as a guy who was still enjoying his retirement into a guy that has now gone back to a full-time job.”
HBK mentioned how the jump to USA Network has really embedded him back into the product much like when he was a competitor in the ring.
“That’s honestly what the past several months have been like since NXT has made the move to USA and again, just all the stuff that’s going on. It’s been very, very busy and very hectic, but it has been an absolute blast that I enjoy to do with everybody,”
Triple H added how big of a help Shawn has been in the transition as Michaels began to spearhead a great deal of the work that NXT does in the UK brand.
“As NXT was evolving to USA and picking up that pace, it made me have to back out of some things as well and Shawn picked up the ball on the UK and basically that got pushed his way and he was a so intricatl a part of it anyway that he just kind of latched onto it,” Hunter said. “He’s headed over there and kind of spearheaded that and sort of taking on the ownership of that brand totally in and of himself.” Triple H also adds that former PROGRESS owner Jim Smallman has been a big part of NXT UK’s development.
Michaels did say the several-year break he took from wrestling was certainly needed, but he is extremely happy to find his footing in his new role as a coach, producer and mentor to the younger talent.
“You do it for so long you just want to have time to rest, take it easy, disengage, all the while not really knowing I just needed to get refreshed and find, I don’t know I guess I didn’t have any other experience than wrestling and you then begin to wonder, ‘Well do I still have anything to offer and if so where is that?’ And it wasn’t until that we took a vacation here in Florida and came down to the Performance Center and you start to understand that it’s still in you, it’s part of who you are. It’s the one thing that I do well that I enjoy doing, that it never feels like work, but unless you get exposed to it, you don’t really know if that shoe’s going to fit so to speak,” said HBK.
“I think I actually get more joy, seriously, sitting next to Hunter watching these young men and women go out there and tear the house down and enjoy themselves and watch them express their passion for this business along with ours and so it really is, it’s one of those things that have been just a sheer joy to do and I do, I enjoy going to work everyday and clearly I was built to do one thing and still doing it at 54 and thrilled to be doing so.”
(Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone)
You can listen to Shawn & Hunter’s full conversation below:
