Kyle O'Reilly talks about working with Shawn Michaels in NXT.
Kyle O'Reilly was one-fourth of the Undisputed ERA along with Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong. In that time, Kyle O'Reilly worked very closely with Shawn Michaels in crafting several main event matches either as a unit or when he went solo for a brief moment in time in 2021.
Speaking about his time in the system, Kyle O'Reilly, on AEW Unrestricted, revealed that during his time in NXT, he really learned how to structure a main event match, crediting that knowledge to Shawn Michaels in the same way that Shawn Michaels used to credit Pat Patterson for teaching him how to structure a main event match.
"I learned a lot about structuring a main event match. There's that age-old adage in pro wrestling, 'listen to the people, listen to the people.' I never really got what that meant. 'I'm listening to them. They're cheering, they're quieting down, they're cheering.' Shawn really taught us that, instead of going up and down with the crowd reaction, trying to keep it at a level. So, on a double down, just don't move until they start to die, and then you can move and you bring them back up. Little things like that, that you don't really think of and it's really hard to learn on your own until someone explains that to you, and then a light bulb goes off and it helps take your game to the next level."
Kyle O'Reilly also credited William Regal and Triple H for helping him become a more polished performer, overall having nothing but good things to say about his time in the NXT system.
"I feel like my time there made me so much more polished and complete as a performer. I'm so grateful for my time there, the four and a half years in that system, working with the Shawn Michaels, the William Regals, and Triple Hs. It really made me a much more polished and accomplished performer."
Now, Kyle is once again reunited with the original members of the Undisputed ERA, Adam and Bobby, in AEW. Recently, he took a step forward in solidifying his future by trademarking his Alias, “The Violent Artist.” Learn more here.
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