WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is on tour with the NXT brand all weekend long, and took some time out of his day to sit down for a Facebook Live session with Kayla Braxton. You can check out the full video above.
On how he first got involved with the WWE Performance Center:
“We came to Orlando on vacation to visit friends, and while we were on vacation we decided to come back for a longer vacation. And while we were on vacation I started making trips to the Performance Center and going to a few NXT shows. It was sort of something that just grabbed a hold of me. The environment and culture around the Performance Center was unbelievable. It was something I wanted to be a part of, and we ended up moving to Florida.”
On what the day-to-day life is like at the Performance Center:
“My guys understand we can be all over the map sometimes. It can be as structured as dissecting film, watching matches, going through their matches piece by piece. Other days we watch other matches, some days we don’t watch anything and just have a lot of discussion about the way they see the wrestling business versus the way I see it. They’re all very different individuals at different places and levels of their careers. You can’t treat everything like it’s the same. It’s like if you have the same match with the same guy all the time you get stale. The class is the same way. We do our best to go all over the place and go where that particular day is leading us.”
Praise for the WWE P.C. head trainers:
“Matt Bloom and Sara Amato are the ones that deserve all the credit. They’re the ones that set the vibe, the mood and the culture for that place every single day. It is absolutely, easily the best environment I have every been in in my entire life. It’s those two that make it that way. It’s an amazing place to be.”
On NXT standing out from WWE as its own brand:
“It’s unique and different. Both behind the scenes and from the audience standpoint. It’s a great environment and culture. There is a purity to it. A cliche as it sounds, there’s a wholesomeness and a team mentality. Not just around the Performance Center and NXT but with the fanbase. They really do understand that they’re a part of something special and there is something about this brand – and I do see it as its own brand. It stands alone, it’s unique and it’s only going to grow over time. I’ve been in this stuff for 30 years and I can’t remember a time, other than I was 19-years-old and first getting started, that I was this excited for the future of the wrestling business.”
The mentality of the coaches behind the scenes at the P.C.:
“None of this has anything to do with me. That’s another thing that makes the Performance Center and NXT so valuable. Everyone that’s there, as far as coaches and people that run the place, no one is looking for advancement. No one wants to move up. We all want to stay right there, and all we want to do is watch people go on and live their dreams and be successful. As much fun as it was for me to do personally, I’m getting an unbelievable amount of joy, maybe even more joy, watching other people get to do that.”
On the Mae Young Classic:
“I was so excited for a great deal of our younger talent to be in it. And to have the opportunity to be exposed to so much international talent that I haven’t seen before. It’s funny because I’ve been doing this so long that everybody thinks that I see everything, and I don’t. I watch our stuff, because these are the people we’re charged to help. To see all these other unbelievably talented women, and that was for me so far above and beyond the expectations. We knew it would be good, but it was phenomenal. It was a complete joy and a fantastic opportunity to be a part of.”
Advice to those thinking about joining the WWE P.C.:
“If you get an opportunity you need to jump on it. But understand there is a mindset and a culture here. I didn’t want to be a part of this unless I knew that I could be an asset and bring something positive to it, because this is way too special. If you’re not going to add to that, or buy into it – it’s sort of like playing for the San Antonio Spurs or New England Patriots. You can be successful and win a championship, but you’ve got to buy into the game plan. If you’re not willing to do that, I don’t think we’re the place for you. All we want is people who come here and add to that unbelievable environment.”
