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COMPLETE COVERAGE OF SHAWN MICHAELS WWE NXT DEADLINE MEDIA CALL

Welcome to PWInsider.com's ongoing coverage of Shawn Michaels' WWE NXT Deadline PPV media call.

Michaels noted he was at WWE HQ in Connecticut and it's a great, impressive place.  He said there were still tickets available at Ticketmaster and ran down the lineup, noting the roster was very excited for the show.

Shawn was asked about the NXT Women's division.  Shawn said it's incredibly stacked.  The depth of the roster can be seen in the Women's Iron Survivor Match with five talented women, none of whom were in the bout last year.   He put over the company's talent and recruiting process.  For a long time, they always had the most talented women in the world on the main roster and that's going to continue given how stacked they are.  Their job is to lose talent.  When they do, there are so many ready to raise up and take their place.  He praised the two matches they have on Deadline for the women's division.

Michaels was asked about Wes Lee and when the decision was made to pull him from the PPV this weekend.  Michaels said the decision was pretty close to last minute.  He's been struggling for "quite some time."  Michaels didn't know the depth of it.  Lee made the decision on his own, as he should have.  He's young and perform like few others.  A day or two before the announcement, they had a long talk and Lee didn't think he could make it through the match with the pain he was in.  It was the best decision for Lee.  Everything came together at the last minute in less than 24 hours.  There's story with Dragon Lee from before with Dominik and selfishly, Michaels said he didn't have Lee as long as he wanted to and was happy to have him back.  Michaels praised him as a performer and a person.

Michaels was asked about the NXT announcing team.  Vic Joseph is one of the best play by play guys in the business.  They are laughing regularly in the back at the chemistry between Vic and Booker T.  Shawn says he watches as a fan from the back and if he laughs, he's happy to go with it.  He said Booker goes out there and it's fun to see Vic pull him back in.  He said he'd never want to lose Vic.  He's so good at his job.

Michaels was asked about the potential new role teased for Ava.  Michaels said she comes to see him a lot and brings him information about the matches and she does a really good job.  We all know the Bloodline she's from and she's very astute.  She's still part of the NXT roster and he's happy to have her on the programming.

Michaels was asked about the return of Nikita Lyons to NXT TV.  He said everyone saw a lot of potential in her before she went down to injury.  Her return adds to an already incredibly stacked division.  Anyone with two eyes in their head can see she is an incredibly talented young lady with something special, that it factor.  She's got a lot of competition but came back with a lot of intensity and fire and in shape.  NXT's women are hungry.  They aren't going to let Lyons walk all over them and Lyons is going to have to work for it and earn it when she gets back in the ring.

On the return of CM Punk and Punk being able to make a deal with Triple H, Michaels joked Punk can do him the favor of coming to NXT since Michaels was right on the last call about him.  He said business is first and he doesn't believe it was a tough decision for anyone.  As a business decision, outside of working out the nooks and crannies, it should have been easy and he's happy it got done.  He wants the company to thrive.  Everyone gets into the business because they love it and want it to do well.  For Punk, leaving on his own terms makes things peaceful.  However someone wants to make their exit, they should be at peace with it.  He's happy with everyone involved.  He wishes Punk and the company luck and he's very excited about it.

For the move to CW, it's still some ways off but they are excited about it and the partnership with CW.  Their partnership with USA Network has been phenomenal and fantastic over the years.  They want to finish out strong.  He'd be lying if he didn't say he wasn't excited about the CW deal and plans on getting as many moments and opportunities as they can in 2024.

On the Iron Survivor Match, Michaels said his advice to everyone is worry about Saturday and having a great performance, not their future.  Nothing should be more important than that match.  If they do that and do well, they will be fine.

I asked Shawn about Lexis King's big match against Carmelo Hayes, Michaels said they are looking forward to seeing how he does.  He was someone that Shawn thinks needed the structure of the NXT system and he has taken well to Coaching.  He's very interested in seeing how this goes when he steps out for the first time on this stage.

On Trick Wiliams wanting to be in first this weekend, Michaels said they enjoy and appreciate his passion.  No matter where he comes in, they see a great deal of potential.  Michaels enjoys and likes him and wants him to do great.  He's not afraid of that spotlight.  He's a good kid and he's happy he's getting this opportunity on Saturday.

On NXT Europe and running overseas, he said the process is still ongoing but you can see what is going on with the main roster with big international events, you can see where things will go in time.  They are ready when it happens.

On Becky Lynch in NXT, Shawn Michael Lynch wanted to lift the women and NXT as a whole and did so with great humility and professionalism and class.  He thanks her for that.  She did a great deal for NXT and was goo from a ratings standpoint, from creative and did everything she could to lift the brand and helping the women physically and verbally.  She made time for everyone and he has great respect for her.

On the new NIL athlete signings, Michaels joked he didn't know where they were going to stuff everyone.  The program has been a game changer for them.  These talents pick things up quick.  They have more and more coming through the pipeline and he's looking forward to having a bigger facility one day.  They are looking forward to the CW relationship in 2024 and the NIL program just helps feed the machine.

On main roster talents coming to NXT, Michaels said not to start anything with HHH, but everyone has so much fun in NXT.  The passion and hunger that main roster talents come in with is great as they feel like it's their college days again.  Some come here and feel they are with a bunch of kids, but that's the entire point of NXT.  He thinks his NXT talents expect the main roster talents to be more stiff and gruff but they come relaxed and excited to take part.  He's happy they are there and taking part.

On the release of McKenzie Mitchell from WWE, he has no insight.  She will always be part of the NXT family.  The decision took him by surprise.  There are overlapping jobs and there are going to be changes.  He said that the door is open with WWE and he hopes they can revisit that relationship down the line.  It was a loss to NXT and they will miss her greatly but the machine has to keep rolling.

Michaels was asked about Indian talents in WWE.    He praised them and the Indian market and said in good time, they will get there.  "I promise you that."

Michaels was asked about the 18-34 demo being up 50% last year and was asked what worked and didn't work with finding that audience over the last year.  Michaels said that his feeling is the movement of the show.  It moves very fast.  it's a sports-entertainment variety show and has something for everyone.  It's quick moving and going from one scene to another.  It's almost like scrolling through your phone sometimes with all the different settings and atmosphere.  He feels that's why they are the best two hour wrestling show on TV.  They have younger writers on the show.  If you can tap into different emotions, that attracts the 18-34 demo as they are more focused on that aspect of television.

On hopes for this NXT going forward, he wants to have a great show top to bottom.  They want to continue to expand storylines.  They are going into the holidays and wants to end the year with a bang and then it won't be long before they want to start the yearr with a bang.  If you don't want to do that, you shouldn't be in this line of work.  They are focused on Deadline and the roster is ready to go.  He wants a quality show from top to bottom so the people who invest their two hours weekly enjoy it.  He's still a wrestling fan and wants the show to be great so fans want to keep supporting it.

Michaels was asked about going over independent tapes with talents.  Michaels said he doesn't do it as much but he does try several times a week to get with talent to go over their matches.  He doesn't have the time to do it as much as he would like to.  He wants them to get feedback from him and it's great having Matt Bloom next to him as the shows happen so they can make notes to give feedback.    It's a part of the job that he loves and an aspect that he misses.  

Michaels closed out by thanking everyone for taking part in the call.  He appreciates the media promoting the brand and just wants NXT to continue to be exposed to the world.  He knows everyone has a wrestling base and sometimes they can lose that and he thanked everyone for making those connections to the band,  He thanked everyone and wished them happy holidays.

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