Shawn Michaels Gives an Update on WWE NXT’s Recruiting Philosophy, New Booking Direction

WWE’s NXT brand is officially dropping the 2.0 tagline, causing many fans to speculate on whether or not the brand will be moving back towards its “Black and Yellow” days of the late 2010s. When the brand was given a soft reboot in September 2021 its presentation was noticeably changed and a larger emphasis was placed on backstage skits and homegrown talent trained at the WWE Performance Center rather than stars who had established themselves in other companies or on the independent scene. 

Shawn Michaels, who has been overseeing the booking of NXT for the past year, told My San Antonio in a recent interview that the recruiting of independent stars hasn’t stopped — “We are still reaching out to other people with experience that have wrestled on the independent scene or been out in Japan or in other companies. That is something NXT will continue to do in the future. Nothing is off the table. We simply want to continue to find people that are just as passionate about the WWE product as we are.”

He also indicated that the booking process is going to change now that Triple H is overseeing all of WWE’s Creative following Vince McMahon’s sudden departure in July. This will be great news to fans who have been critical of the NXT product during its 2.0 phase. 

“I will say that Hunter trusts me quite a bit and I have sort of a great deal of freedom to do what I think is the best thing for NXT and our talent here. But, I can’t speak ill of Vince or any of the other people. They have all been good to me over the years, and I always tried to give them everything I can. So, that isn’t going to change,” Michaels explained. “But, Hunter and I’s thought process is certainly more in line, so I don’t find myself having to ask him a lot of questions or if this or that is OK to do, or what do you think of this? He has given me a great deal of freedom down here, which I appreciate. But, the good thing is we are best friends, and we are going to talk all the time. But, nine times out of 10 we are on the same page, so I think that makes it easier for everyone involved and it certainly is a more streamlined process. I think everyone is encouraged by that and there is a great deal of excitement from a talent standpoint as well.”