Shawn Michaels Talks Coaching NXT Stars: I Teach Best Through Connection

Shawn Michaels isn’t sure if he’s a great teacher, but he feels confident in sharing his experiences with NXT recruits as the best way for him to connect with them on a personal level, helping them reach new heights.

Shawn Michaels is regarded as one of the all-time greatest in-ring wrestlers. He currently serves as WWE’s Senior Vice President of Talent Development and Creative, managing the creative direction of the NXT brand, where WWE cultivates its next wave of WWE Superstars.

During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Shawn Michaels explained that he doesn’t consider himself a great teacher because he believes teaching the basics of pro wrestling and sharing his experiences and feelings are two different things. He does say that he thinks the wisdom he imparts on NXT Talent will mostly resonate with them after they leave NXT and start to branch out on WWE’s main TV shows.

“So I’ll say this, I don’t know if I am a great teacher. That was probably the most challenging thing about it when I came in first as a coach. But I was very upfront with everybody. It’s one thing to teach the basics and then share your experiences. So I think what helped me, I don’t know, teach, was being able to connect with these people on such a personal level, a relationship level. I was kind of in their minds, freshly out, I was still relevant. I think that’s one of the things that makes the difference. There are times now, as the years go on, at least I joke about it, and I joke about it because it’s true, I’ve been there now for 10 years. The athletes now, they’re so used to seeing me, I no longer walk on water.

Now, I’m just the guy that kind of yells at the television, and every now and then gets in their face or tries to tell them this or that I’m the boss here and it’s not quite the same. The things that I say may not always carry the weight that it once did at the beginning from a coaching level, but it is something that most of them, once they go up to the main roster, and now they experience some of those things that I was talking about. That’s when it connects now. So now a lot of the teaching isn’t right there in the moment. It’s a couple of months or a year down the road, and then they walk back in the Performance Center and said, ABC, this happened, and that’s exactly what you talked about.”

Elsewhere in the interview, HBK explains the most critical factors that he looks for in a professional wrestler. Read more here.

Fightful will have full coverage of WWE NXT No Mercy on Saturday, September 27.