Shawn Michaels Explains How He'd Handle a Young HBK in NXT

It's been well-documented that for as talented as Shawn Michaels was during his initial WWE run in the 90s, he was incredibly difficult to deal with backstage. From backstage politicking to drug abuse to getting into an actual fight with Bret Hart, "The Heartbreak Kid" became infamous for his bad attitude — something he corrected once he returned to wrestling full-time in 2002. Michaels now works as both a coach for the WWE Performance Center and a backstage producer for NXT, and in a new interview with Inside The Ropes' Gary Cassidy he was asked how he would handle a 90s-era HBK if he arrived at the PC.

"I don't know. I don't think I'd deal with them and I'd probably suggest that we let him go, he's going to be nothing but trouble, no matter how talented he is. Either that or get him help," Michaels said. "Honestly, that would be the the biggest thing. Especially, as I look at it, I think to myself, 'Well, I... I was good at my job.'"

"So when you see that kind of ability and they're young, and they are just angry at everything, and obviously have a problem — as opposed to getting rid of them, the first thing you probably should be doing is helping them. So, the more that I think about it, I think to myself that, again, 'We should try to at least help him because the young man is going to end up hurting himself someday,' or he's going to be one of those wrestling tragedies that we hear about. I think if he had all the drug issues and things like that, that I had, that'd be the first step. If it was just an attitude thing and there were no other circumstances, that's when sometimes it may not matter how good he is, he's probably more trouble than he's worth."

WWE's next pay-per-view, Fastlane, takes place this Sunday. Check out the full card below:

• WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan (Edge/Jey Uso as Special Guest Enforcer)
• Intercontinental Championship: Big E vs. Apollo Crews
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championships: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair
• Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
• Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton