Shawn Michaels On What Makes WWE NXT Special: ‘We Build Stars To Send Them Away’

Shawn Michaels discusses what he loves about working for WWE NXT.

Shawn Michaels has been involved with WWE for nearly 40 years. After a long wrestling career and establishing a legacy so significant that he’s been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame multiple times, he transitioned to working behind the scenes. Today, Michaels is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development and Creative at WWE, where he runs the NXT developmental brand.

Ahead of the WWE NXT Heatwave event in Lowell, Massachusetts, Shawn Michaels spoke with Justin Barrasso of the Boston Herald. During the interview, he hyped the event. A staple of WWE’s new generation of the ’90s, he spoke about how lucky he feels to be in a role where he can positively influence the growth of the next generation of WWE stars.

“Heatwave is going to be fantastic, and I can’t wait for people to experience it,” said Michaels. “I’m thankful to be in a line of work that I know a lot about and in a role I love. If it helps the men and women here grow personally and professionally, then that’s even more of a positive.”

Furthermore, HBK praised the uniqueness of NXT as it’s the only brand in wrestling that develops stars with the hope of passing them to the main roster instead of solely focusing on its own bottom line.

“There’s not another brand out there that works so hard to create stars in order to lose them,” said Michaels. “Everybody else builds stars to be able to draw money and ratings for their show. We do it to then send them off somewhere else. That is unlike any other brand, and it is part of the value NXT brings to the wrestling business as a whole.”

Check out the full WWE NXT Heatwave card here.

Fightful will have full coverage of the event as it airs on August 24th.