Shawn Michaels knew Je’Von Evans was special, but even he didn’t expect to lose him quite so soon.

Looking back on NXT’s standout names from 2025, Evans was widely seen as a future main roster star almost immediately. However, speaking with Ringer Wrestling, Michaels admitted he had hoped to keep the rising talent in NXT a little longer to build around him.

“Certainly, Je’Von, obviously was somebody I was begging for,” Michaels said. “Can we keep this kid for another six months?’ Because we had every intention … from an NXT standpoint we were, in our minds, going to build around Je’Von for the next year, and that was kind of the model.”

At the time, Michaels was already aware that NXT Champion Oba Femi was heading to the main roster, but Evans being called up as well came as a surprise.

“And they’re like, ‘Oh, no, no, no. We’re taking him, too,’” he said. “I pushed back a little bit. I was like, ‘Could we get just six months?’ Like, ‘no.’ I’m like, ‘Three?’ Like, ‘no.’ And I’m like, ‘All right, so. fair enough.’”

While the decision initially frustrated him, Michaels ultimately viewed it as a positive sign for NXT’s development system.

“If that’s the worst news you have to have, is that they’re taking too many of your people, that means we’re doing a pretty good job,” Michaels said. “And that’s something that we always have to remember. That’s part of my job as well, is trying to remind people that, hey, this is what we do.”

He went on to compare NXT’s role within WWE to college athletics, emphasizing that the brand is designed to prepare talent for bigger stages rather than keep them long term.

“We’re like the NCAA,” he said. “We’re a brand, but at the same time, they are they’re not meant to stay here. We’re not going to build around these people for years and years. It’s just not the reality of NXT. And so, understanding, that you’re going to have these times of setting back and resetting and having to go through a building phase again is just something that you have to do.”