Shawn Michaels knows first-hand what it takes to make it in WWE.
And now he’s helping shape the next generation of talent at NXT.
While appearing on Stephanie McMahon’s What’s Your Story? podcast (full episode below), the WWE Hall of Famer opened up about the transition from being an in-ring performer to coaching and developing future WWE stars behind the scenes.
Michaels discussed the balance between teaching the fundamentals of wrestling while also trying to create a healthier learning environment than the one many veterans experienced coming up in the business.
“Well, so it was obviously it’s you’ve got the the teaching of the business and wrestling and coaching and you know, again, from basics to intermediate to advanced, you know, very structured from a coaching teaching aspect. But the biggest, the part that moved me the most, is the idea that it doesn’t have to be the over the top kind of tough love that we all got. Now, on one hand, I recognize that there are going to be people that are going to say that the way we got brought up was whatever.”
Michaels also spoke in-depth about one of the biggest challenges facing NXT today, which is preparing inexperienced athletes for the WWE main roster in a much shorter amount of time than previous generations had.
According to Michaels, many talents today simply don’t get the same volume of in-ring reps that wrestlers from past eras received while learning the craft.
“It’s very challenging but look, that’s one of the things I can remember being asked like how long do you think it takes to get, you know, one of these athletes that doesn’t know anything to get them totally ready for the main roster? And I said honestly, to get them ready to what I think is adequate to be ready for a main roster guy. And they said really, you can’t get it done faster than that? And I was like, well, we, I mean, I guess we can. But if not, not to get them to where I think they need to be simply because of that, because we don’t have the opportunity there.”
He continued by pointing out how much experience older generations accumulated early in their careers compared to many modern prospects.
“We have people that, you know, I was, I was in the hundreds of matches in probably three months. We’ve got a few people down there that have more experience, but it’s young on young, so even if they’re having great conversations in the car, we you don’t know how much they’re actually learning and growing in that.”
The good ole days? Listen and learn, Kid! Hear how @ShawnMichaels got started and the lessons he applies for #WWENXT. Don’t miss an all new #WhatsYourStory out tomorrow!@WWE @Fanatics @EGxo pic.twitter.com/PoHF1ZckoO
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) May 6, 2026
