WWE NXT stars and recent signees recently took part in an interview for the WWE website, and they talk about being ‘leaders of the new school’.
The interview with the NXT stars all stemmed from a Tweet sent by Sami Zayn talking about how the new crop of WWE stars came up on the independent scene and will create change in the company.
The interview features comments from Kevin Steen, NXT Champion Adrian Neville, Prince Devitt, and Zayn himself. (It also references Hideo Itami, fka KENTA)
You can view the original tweet from Zayn that started the conversation, as well as read a few excerpts below:
Talking ’bout my g-g-g-generation! @FightSteenFight @WWENeville @fergaldevitt @KENTAK312 @WWEDanielBryan @WWECesaro @WWERollins. Change=now.
— Sami Zayn (@iLikeSamiZayn) August 12, 2014
WWE.COM: The tweet really seemed to capture a moment in time, though. What was going through your mind when you sent it?
ZAYN: It’s just crazy to think where we all were a few years ago and where we are now. The other guys I tagged are guys we all crossed paths with for years all over the world on various small, independent shows. We thought we were doing something special at the time, but you don’t know if it’s going to pay off. Now that we’re all here under the WWE umbrella, it kind of validates all that.
WWE.COM: Was getting here always the goal?
STEEN: I actually had a bit of a different mentality. I remember talking with Zayn about WWE, it must have been 2003, and I told him it wasn’t a dream for me — it was the goal. I appreciate all the chances I got to wrestle all over the world and I’m really proud to have wrestled in Japan and Australia and Italy. But it was never a necessity for me, because in my head, I thought, “When I get to WWE, I’ll travel with them and see all those places.” It was never something I felt I needed to do, but now that I’ve lived through those experiences, I realize how important it was in getting here.
For more with the ‘leaders’, click here for the complete interview.