Shawn Michaels has often professed his love for the NXT brand.
In a new interview with Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet, The Undisputed ERA all discuss what it has been like to work with Shawn Michaels and how hands-on HBK is with the black and gold brand.
Roderick Strong spoke about being a man with many mentors but Shawn being the longest-tenured mentor and also somebody who genuinely cares about performers on a human level, "The fact that he just loves wrestling so much and he, like cares about you more as a person," stated the NXT North American Champion. "Like, he loves wrestling and obviously as being good at this, but he cares about you as a person and if stuff wasn't right in your personal life, you could like talk. I don't know. It's just really like more than just a coach. Like a real mentor. Like something I've never had. He's the longest person to ever teach me anything."
Kyle O'Reilly honed in on Shawn Michaels' work as it pertains specifically to the system shocking quartet of NXT, "I feel he's been very hands-on with NXT in general, but specifically with The Undisputed ERA because he sees this bond. He sees this brotherhood. He sees the potential that the four of us have as a collective unit. And man, his signature is all over this thing."
Undisputed ERA leader, Adam Cole, has stated in the past that HBK is involved in every one of his bouts, "Shawn Michaels is involved in every one of my matches. At the Performance Center, I work with him directly. He's like a mentor for so many of us in NXT. He takes a liking and makes sure he has a hand in everything that we're doing. The best thing about Shawn is, he lets us come up with what we think, and he'll get excited about what we come up with. If we're stumped on something, in five seconds he'll go, 'what if you did this' and it's amazing." Cole told Lilian Garcia on her podcast earlier this year.
The NXT brand will face head-to-head competition with All Elite Wrestling for the second time ever beginning tomorrow night at 8 P.M. Eastern.
if you use any portion of this transcription, please credit Pro Wrestling Sheet with a h/t to Fightful for the transcription.