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COMPLETE SHAWN MICHAELS WWE NXT GREAT AMERICAN BASH CONFERENCE CALL COVERAGE

WWE held a conference call this afternoon to promote Sunday's Great American Bash PPV.

Shawn opened up, noting he was excited about the Great American Bash this Sunday.

Cody Rhodes will be doing the opening of the show.

Michaels feels they've been in a good groove since Gold Rush.  The synergy with the main roster is going well.

Michaels said the best thing to do is be in the ring with people better than you, so the synergy is helping.  With the ratings, he'll take anything they can get.  They are thrilled to get anyone they can get, and said Brawling Brutes, Imperium, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens as talents they'd love to have.  They won't say no to anyone who wants to help.

Michaels was asked about Roxanne Perez's work thus far and the new side she's claimed she will show this weekend.  Michaels said she's learning how to evolve and be the Roxanne without the title.  You are going to spend more time in your career without a title and she's getting to figure out her evolution in NXT.  He said he's sure she will deliver in front of her family in Texas.

Michaels said one of the great success stories of NXT has been Chase U.  He said they were an everyman lower card stable and turned it into one of the most popular stables in all of NXT.  He said Duke and Chase will have nothing but more success in their future.  The focus right now is on Thea Hail but he has no doubt we'll see more of Chase U in the future.

Michaels said Thea Hail is a great example of why he loves this job.  She is a passionate, talented young lady who just graduated High School a few years ago and has already done so much for NXT and continues to climb.  It's nothing short of astounding.   They have so much youth in the locker room, it's stagggering.

Wendy Choo is rehabbing injuries.  She's still "a ways off" before she returns to action.

On Dominik Mysterio, he said there's almost no way for people to live up to the legacy of their father.  His kids sometimes tell him it's not easy being his kid.  Dom has done a wonderful job but has to do it on the big stage.  NXT allows him to come back here to take the time to work on the things he wants to work on, have more freedom and a looser structure.  He can find out who Dom is when separated from his father and work on anything he or WWE feel he needs to work on.  Dom has had a lot thrown on him, but he's done a fantastic job thus far.

On Tony D'Angelo, Michaels joked if he wasn't a fan of it, it wouldn't be on his TV.    He said only in their line of work that a man's freedom can rely on a match on NXT.  He thinks they have done a fantastic job.  He said if Tony didn't want to stay in WWE, he has a career as an actor in mafia movies.  This is their first chance at gold this weekend and he's a huge supporter of their work.

On the women's division, Michaels said they would put theirs against anyone else's.  He's wondered how a women's Cruiserweight title might go.    He praised their division.

On the main roster talents coming to NXT, everyone who comes down to NXT has fun.  They have an extremely relaxed atmosphere.  It's a collaborative experiment with the talents and they come and find their passion again.  They had some technical difficulties but Shawn is back.  He believes they get reinvigorated and reminded why they got into the business.  They are encouraged again and ready to go back on the main roster. 

On Carmello Hayes' appearances on the main roster, Michaels said his understanding is it's been all positive.  He thinks it's about being ready, not a question of his ability.  He feels it's all positive from Hayes' standpoint.  He's learning its easier to do this one week, one event at a time.

On Gable Steveson's debut this Sunday, Michaels said he's been in WWE for awhile and has been training at the PC for a bit.  He's said he'll be straight forward honest.  He had been there and Michaels wanted to do something with him and asked if he could.  Michaels felt that if they were going to do something, let's do it.  He finally got the go-ahead so Michaels is throwing him in the deep end so they can see how it goes.  He's an incredibly intelligent talented young man, so they need to use that.   He wanted to know if he could pull that trigger and got the green light.

On Robert Stone, he'll be there as long as they are allowed to have him.  He is a tremendously versatile performer.  HHH has compared him to Bobby Heenan.  He's a "break glass in case of emergency" guy who can fill the role.

On the Weapons Wild Match, Michaels said that's where the storyline dictacted where it should go.  How do they not have their Texas girl on the Great American Bash from the Lone Star State?  He doesn't want to have their biggest shows without giving their woman the attention they deserve.

On Ilja Dragonuv, he's a young man who brings such intensity and professionalism to everything he does.  He's a stellar example of what they bring to the locker room and the PC.  He cant speak enough to what they give NXT every single time he goes out there.  He worries about Ilja so much because he wants him to have something to bring to the main roster.  He wants to tell him he doesn't have to go so hard but that's the only way he knows how to go and Shawn understands and respect it.  He said everyone watching knows he brings everything he can to his performances.   Carmelo says he has passion and is now he's going to have taken to him and dragged out of him vs Ilja.

On Dragon Lee, he has really taken advantage of everything the PC has.  He's come in looking to have great success even though he came in with name value and recogniton but is still using all the assets they have in NXT.  They have some big and exciting things in the future for Lee.

Michaels teased future NXT appearances on Raw and Smackdown.  They are excited about the future.

 

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