WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels recently spoke with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour to discuss his work with NXT, where the Heartbreak Kid says his main focus will be to develop young talent for Raw and SmackDown, adding that playing larger venues would only be a bonus. Highlights from the interview are below.
How his main focus with the brand is to develop stars for the main roster:
“Right now, it certainly is about development, but that is certainly not for the standpoint of forsaking real talent and real ability. You’re crazy if you don’t see people who are out there that are very valuable that you know can be valuable to the WWE. Even if it’s coming into NXT and maybe getting a feel for how life is in WWE and then quickly moving on. I know it sounds cliche and maybe not honest, but nothing really is off the table. If it’s a good idea, I’ll steal it from anybody. If there’s a really talented guy out there and we think he can help this company, we’re crazy not to take it. We can still develop people at the same time. All of our younger talent is going to benefit from being in the ring with those guys, even if its just a handful of times. They’re gonna get such experience from that. I never want to take it off the table, not getting guys out there that can really contribute to Raw or SmackDwn in the future.”
Says selling out larger arenas will be a bonus:
“All of this is about feeding the machine. At the forefront, I’m more focused on developmental, on developing the young men and women that we have pass through here, getting them prepared for the main roster. In the process, if we’re able to build back this brand where we can get back in those arenas and start selling them out, that’s a bonus. I can’t say that’s the goal right now. To me, I’m focused on the development of these young men and women. The more people we get that have experience and we can filter through our system, it’s only going to help.”
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)