Shawn Michaels recently spoke about the difficulties involved in developing WWE talent through WWE NXT and preparing performers for the transition to the company’s main roster.

Speaking on What’s Your Story with Stephanie McMahon, Michaels reflected on his move from being an in-ring performer to helping guide WWE’s next generation of talent behind the scenes.

Shawn Michaels discusses WWE NXT development

Michaels explained that coaching talent at NXT involves far more than simply teaching wrestling fundamentals.

“Well, so it was obviously it’s you’ve got the teaching of the business and wrestling and coaching and you know, again, from basics to intermediate to advanced, you know, very structured from a coaching teaching aspect.”

He also noted that one of the biggest things that motivated him in his coaching role was creating a different learning environment than the one many wrestlers experienced in previous generations.

“But the biggest, the part that moved me the most, is the idea that it doesn’t have to be the over the top kind of tough love that we all got.”

Michaels acknowledged that many wrestlers from older eras came up through much harsher systems but suggested the current developmental process does not need to rely on that same approach.

Later in the interview, Michaels discussed one of the major challenges facing WWE developmental — getting inexperienced athletes prepared for the demands of the main roster within a limited timeframe.

“It’s very challenging and look, and that’s one of the things I can remember being asked like ‘how long do you think it takes to get one of these athletes that doesn’t know anything to get them totally ready for the main roster?’”

Michaels admitted he believes properly preparing talent takes significantly longer than many people may expect.

“And I said honestly, to get them ready to what I think is adequate to be ready for a main roster guy,” Michaels said.

He continued by explaining that modern developmental talent simply do not have the same volume of in-ring experience previous generations received before reaching major promotions.

“We have people that, you know, I was, in the hundreds of matches in probably three months.”

Michaels has served as WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative for NXT since becoming heavily involved behind the scenes in 2021.

Under his leadership, NXT has produced numerous wrestlers who later moved to WWE RAW and SmackDown, including several performers currently featured prominently on the main roster.

Shawn Michaels Discusses Challenges Preparing NXT Talent For WWE Main Roster

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