WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels held a media call today to promote this Saturday’s NXT Vengeance Day premium live event, where the Heartbreak Kid answer a number of hot-button questions surrounding the industry. Highlights of his call can be found below.
-To begin, Michaels gets asked about protections being in place for talent in NXT following the latest Vince McMahon lawsuit surfacing. He says that WWE can always attempt to do better and that the info. in the lawsuit is unfortunate. He confirms that there are protections in place and that it is very important to him.
-The next question is whether Michaels had any conversations with talent about what was in the lawsuit. He says that the roster is clearly aware of it, that the situation sucks, but that everyone is taking it very seriously. Michaels adds that NXT is filled with impressionable talents and that the NXT staff urges them to be honest if they need help or are getting taken advantage of.
-Regarding William Regal’s recent appearance, Michaels says that it was a cameo and that fans will likely see more of them in the future.
-Someone asks Michaels about female representation backstage. He reveals that Sara Amato is still at the WWE Performance Center and works full-time.
-Michaels tells one reporter that he’s excited to bring in outside talent much like Jordynne Grace was brought in for the WWE Royal Rumble. He always assumed that he was not allowed to do that so he is very excited about the new possibilities.
-When asked about a culture change in WWE over the past 40 years Michaels states that there definitely has been one, and needed a new one desperately. He wants everyone in NXT to enjoy themselves and feel comfortable.
-Michaels was very happy with Wren Sinclair’s debut and performance.
-The next question was a hard one. Michaels gets asked about allegations Brutus Beefcake made about Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty drugging women and taking advantage of them. He outright denies that it happened, stating that Beefcake has since walked back on those allegations and that he never had a problem having consenual sex with women. He adds that he was insecure, but not about that.
-Regarding call-ups, Michaels says they are much more fluid and transitional now so if one does get called up he doesn’t feel like he’s necessarily lost them forever as they had in the past. In a separate response, Michaels states that a good thing about call-ups now is the talents contain the same identity as they had in NXT.
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