Shawn Michaels recently spoke with ComicBook.com for an interview covering all things pro wrestling and WWE.
During the discussion, “The Heartbreak Kid” covered a bunch of topics, among them was the wide-variety of styles taught by coaches from multiple generations at the WWE Performance Center.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On how the WWE PC has a number of different coaches from different eras who teach different styles: “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.”
On how NXT teaches talents the basic fundamentals of pro-wrestling: “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.”
On the Halloween Havoc main event title match: “I don’t think anybody would be surprised to know that we’re thrilled to have Ilja here as we are with so many of our UK stars. But he is obviously an incredibly special young man, a very unique talent, to say the least. And look, I’m excited because first of all, I’ve watched Ilja and JD go at it before. It’s nothing short of spectacular every time. Then you add Braun in there. I’m anxious to see the intensity between Ilja and Braun. I think that’s going to be a fantastic match.”
Check out the complete interview at ComicBook.com.
