WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels spent years as arguably one of the greatest professional wrestlers in the planet. Now he helps usher in the next generation as one of the coaches of NXT and NXT UK – and Mr WrestleMania told Inside The Ropes‘ Lead Writer Gary Cassidy how he would deal with his former self as a coach.
“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. 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.'”
Recently, comments from The Undertaker – who looks set to join Michaels as a coach in NXT – made headlines after The Deadman spoke about the generational changes in the locker room, and The Heartbreak Kid said a wild child, such as he was in the ’90s, would have been at risk of losing his 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.”
Michaels would summarise that getting people help would be the primary objective, but that a poor attitude is a sure-fire way to stamp your exit from the company.
“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 legend @ShawnMichaels picks out some of his favourite Scottish wrestlers and discusses Scotland's impact on the wresting world.
@WrestlingGary // @WWEUK // @thatKJGuypic.twitter.com/j6RLTHqQsA
— BBC The Social (@bbcthesocial) March 17, 2021
You can read Gary Cassidy‘s full interview with Shawn Michaels here.
Thank you so much to Shawn Michaels for taking the time to chat, and to WWE UK and BBC The Social for facilitating the chat.
You can watch WrestleMania live on the WWE Network on April 10th and 11th, as the Show of Shows emanates from the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.