Collaboration is key at the WWE Performance Center.
Speaking with Connor Casey of ComicBook, Shawn Michaels, who is now the Vice President of Talent Development and in charge of NXT, shared how his approach to coaching wrestlers has changed from when he was heading up the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in 1999.
“I’ll say this, most of the overall coaching aspects lie with Matt Bloom, who is a phenomenal head coach at the Performance Center. But the great thing that Hunter set up many, many years ago is that we cover everything. You’ve got people from a number of different eras, a number of different styles, and we’re continuing to build on that. I think all of us would admit that the business, like every sports or entertainment genre, continues to change and grow, and we have to continue to change and grow with it. I will say that one thing that I know we do have in common, what I know we do at the Performance Center and we definitely did at the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy is we don’t put anybody in a box. The one thing that we like to do is make it a collaboration between ourselves and the individual talent. That’s something that we are obviously implementing in great, a great success.
…Obviously, we teach the basics, we teach the fundamentals, but then you’re allowed to grow into the style of the superstar you want to become. We don’t want to paint you as this of how you just have to stay in that box. We want them to be able to find who they are, experiment, take chances, take risks, and that’s what NXT is for,” he said.
Here is the updated lineup for tonight’s episode of NXT:
NXT (10/18)
- Schism (Joe Gacy & The Dyad) vs. Cameron Grimes, Karl Anderson, & Luke Gallows
- Roxanne Perez vs. Rhea Ripley
- Cora Jade vs. Raquel Rodrguiez
- Alba Fyre vs. Sonya Deville
- Stacks vs. TBD (opponent picked by Tony D’Angelo)
- Kevin Owens moderates the airing of grievances between Bron Breakker, JD McDonagh, and Ilja Dragunov
- Wes Lee & Oro Mensah vs. Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams
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