Scott Fishman of Channel Guide Magazine recently spoke with Shawn Michaels to promote the release of his new movie “Pure Country: Pure Heart.” You can check out the trailer for the movie above, along with a behind-the-scenes video featuring HBK below, and the following are some interview highlights:
On his role in the movie:
“I’m always flattered when anybody asks me to be in any movie, but when you think of the Pure Country franchise. I love to listen to country music and any opportunity I can wear cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and have somebody tell me that’s a role, I’m going to jump into it,” Michaels said.
On his backstage role in WWE NXT:
“I would clearly define my role if my role was clearly defined and knew what it was, but I don’t. That has sort t have been the way I have been most of my life, most of my career. I just hang around so often that people just eventually are too afraid to tell me to leave,” Michaels said.
“So, I’ve been hanging around for quite some time at the Performance Center. It’s one thing to sit there and watch things back on film and do your best to help people here and there or address certain things. I think eventually you have to get out there and get a feel for everything that is going on. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to come out on the road. I wanted to get to know the talent a lot better, but also have a better understanding of what they’re doing and how the process goes. I also wanted to get a feel for the crowds. The crowds are different from town to town, city to city and state to state. So, I feel the better I know the better I can help and be an asset to not only the talent, but Matt [Bloom], Sara [Amato] and Hunter [Paul Levesque] who have worked so hard to make the Performance Center and NXT a successful product.”
On who he likes out of the current batch of NXT talents:
“I like Roddy Strong, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, Velveteen Dream, Heavy Machinery, Authors of Pain, Sanity, they are all just a number of young talent out there. Ember Moon and Asuka as well. There are just numerous people out there,” Michaels said. “The wrestling business is ripe with a great deal of young, up-and-coming talent. To me, that is exciting. I got way too positive of an outlook to jump into all the other stuff.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
