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Shawn Michaels did a conference call with reporters today in advance of Saturday’s NXT Deadline PLE. After Adam Hopkins welcomed us, he turned the call over to Shawn.
Shawn thanked us all for being here and previewed the show. He thinks that they have some cool, innovative stuff going on.
He announced that Denise Salcedo will be on the pre-game show panel on Saturday and extended and offer to people on the call to reach out if they are interested. He said that they heading to Charlotte, tickets go on sale next Friday. He is psyched to get back on the road for the Vengeance PPV on Feb. 4.
The first question came from Mike Johnson. Adam said “I swear, we don’t plan this.” Mike asked about the Iron Survivor match. He asked about the seed of the idea for the match and what his thoughts were for so many talents being involved in it. Shawn said the greatest thing about being in NXT is to try new things and test them out. Sometimes they are hit or miss but he loves the process. They wanted to come up with something different for the last PLE of the year. It was inspired by The Ironman match but you can’t go an hour. He also likes gauntlet aspects of matches. A number of talents are psyched to be in the first one. The people that are in the match are people that they believe in. He thinks it will be fantastic. We will see how it goes.
Jason Powell asked what Paul Levesque’s management style is where NXT is concerned. Shawn said he lets him do his thing. He said that they miss hanging out but their friendship has to take a backseat with all of Paul’s responsibilities. He said they don’t communicate much about NXT because of that. Shawn said he’s lucky that Paul trusts him. They know in NXT what WWE wants. The only complaints are not having time to hang.
The next call asked about William Regal’s return to NXT to work with his son, Charlie Dempsey. Do you have any comment? Shawn said that there is nothing official but they love Steven Regal and what he means to NXT and WWE. Nothing would thrill him more than having him return. But right now, he is reading it from “you guys”.
Christian Bruns asked how important it was to get the talent back on the road. He says it’s very important. We are developmental and it’s important for the talent to get reps. He talked about when he broke in with Mid South he did 9 shots a week. It’s a lot different now. It’s been a long slow process and they understand that. The best thing though is to get out in front of the fans and learning what the fans like and what the fans in different places like. It will be great to watch the talent grow.
Nick Housman asked about Sean Waltman and if he will come in and wrestle. Sean said that he never mentioned it to him but he’d love it. He said Waltman is in great shape. The talent could benefit so much and he thinks Sean would too. He said we are all buddies but Sean tells you guys about wanting to work, but not him! He said he thinks it would be awesome and the talent would benefit. Him coming in would be a huge plus for NXT.
He was asked about The New Day appearing against Pretty Deadly on the show. He asked if New Day coming in is a long term thing maybe? Shawn said he never asks for long term. He lets the talent come in and he sees if they enjoy it. They really enjoyed being there Tuesday. Woods started there and loved being there. He said that they have accomplished everything and some guys get to that point and want to give back. He is hoping that them being there is more than a one time thing. The question is how long they will stay. That is a family-main roster thing that needs to be worked out.
He was asked about doing more dates outside of Florida. He hopes so but it’s TBD.
Sean Sapp asked how things like New Day coming in come about. It’s a combination. Sometimes they ask. Sometimes the talent wants to come in. Some live in Orlando, which is a big advantage. When Shawn has an idea for talent, he will reach out to Paul and Bruce Prichard. Other times he will pitch an idea on the quick. It happens in different ways, there is no formal process.
Ryan Satin asked who he thinks are the talents most ready for the main roster. There are different versions of ready. Pretty Deadly he thinks you could put right in, JD McDonagh, Grayson Waller, Apollo, Alba Fyre, Zoey Stark, people that have been around a while and have the maturity. That isn’t to take away from the Brons and Creeds, they could do it too. But they want to keep teaching them so that they have the best chance for success when they get up to the main roster. They have done so much over the last year, but he would love to round them out more to make the chances of success even higher.
He was asked about NXT Europe. There is an announcement coming up in 2023. He will be in charge hands on very heavily at first due to his running NXT UK. He is looking at creating a team there but at first it will be the NXT team at first getting things up and running.
He was asked about Ava Raine’s debut. He said she is doing well and really getting into the character well. As for in-ring she is developing well. For them it’s exciting to have her in The Schism and enjoying herself doing it. She seems to be enjoying herself and that’s important.
He was asked about people coming from college sports as opposed to people like him who grew up in the territories. He said there are different approaches. People who have never seen the business need to be trained and Robbie Brookside and Norman Smiley do a great job with them, as does Steve Corino. There is a healthy competition between old school and new school. The people that come in and don’t commit to it weed themselves out. You have to be patient with the people that come in with no familiarity.
He was asked how important being versatile is. It’s what they do here, teach people those things. It’s important to learn. You need to know how to do things live, and that is what they teach people as they get ready to learn it. It’s all part of the developmental process.
He was asked about Julius Creed. He is a great athlete and an incredibly driven young man. He’s a hard worker and very talent. They try in NXT to get people out of their comfort zone and give them range. They teach them all aspects of working in NXT. The Creeds try to reach any goal that is set for them. They just want to continue to develop them and round them out.
The last questioner asked if NXT will have the only WWE PPV in December from now. Shawn says he would be fine with that but he doesn’t make those decisions. He says things change so he can’t say in the future what will happen but this year it was the case so they are running with it. He said that they will do their best to put on a great show. He said that no one is cynical down in NXT, they get to have fun and enjoy things. They will do their best to close the year with a great show.
Shawn thanked us for helping us get the word out. Shawn hoped that we all enjoy the show but if you don’t, be gentle. He laughed. There will be a post show call on Saturday night and Adam Hopkins joked that we should be gentle.
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