WWE's Shawn Michaels Reveals What Led to Change in NXT and When it Turned the Corner

By Matthew Aguilar

WWE NXT's Halloween Havoc is just one day away, and ahead of the big event, Shawn Michaels hopped on a conference call to talk all things NXT. During the call, Michaels talked a bit about how the brand has changed along the way, and that led to a question from ProWrestling.net, who asked Michaels if he had altered his approach to NXT now that Triple H is calling the shots instead of Vince McMahon. Michaels would reveal that the changes actually started while Vince was still there, with Michaels adding that the brand really turned the corner at Stand & Deliver.

"When 2.0 first launched, there was a little bit of...I guess micromanaging at first, a game plan if you will, marching orders so to speak. But then as you get down the road, like at some point right before Stand and Deliver, it was really just about having a conversation and saying like hey, can we just talk," Michaels said. I'm a good soldier, I'll do absolutely whatever you want, but we are down here on the grounds. We're here, and I feel like I know what you want, but can I go about it sort of in a different way? Can I go about it my way?"

"Again, we'll still get these young men and women into the system. We'll still get them on television, but I need to do it in a way that works for them. We know their limitations. We know what they're able to do. What they're not able to do. I feel like we have the ability to put them in better situations for success," Michaels said. "Would you mind, again, if somebody gets hit by the bus, it's gotta be me, but will you trust me to do that? It was just getting to have that conversation, and it was right before Stand & Deliver, and that's where I felt like we turned the corner."

Michaels doesn't blame anyone though for that initial hesitancy. "And in their defense, certainly it's different tastes, but they were dealing with a guy who had not been in that role. I don't blame anybody for not being sure, because they hadn't seen me do it before, so some of it might have been me needing to earn my stripes as well, which I certainly didn't have a problem with," Michaels said. "But eventually we got a point to where the trust factor was there and we were able to take the reins over a little bit more. And now obviously, Hunter trusts me a great deal, and it is different, and you can see it."

Here's the full card for NXT's next event, Halloween Havoc:

NXT Championship Triple Threat Match: Bron Breakker (C) vs JD McDonagh vs Ilja Dragunov

NXT Women's Championship Match: Mandy Rose (C) vs Alba Fyre

NXT North American Championship 5-Way Ladder Match: Carmelo Hayes vs Oro Mensah vs Wes Lee vs Von Wagner vs Nathan Frazer

Spin The Wheel, Make A Deal Weapons Wild Match: Cora Jade vs Roxanne Perez

Spin The Wheel, Make A Deal Match: Apollo Crews vs Grayson Waller

Ambulance Match (If Julius Loses, Brutus Creed Must Leave NXT): Julius Creed vs Damon Kemp

Halloween Havoc streams on Peacock tonight at 8PM EST.

Are you excited for Halloween Havoc? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

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