Booker T Reveals WWE NXT Commentary Advice From Shawn Michaels

Booker T isn’t afraid to listen to constructive criticism about his commentary from a legend like Shawn Michaels.

On October 6th, it was reported that major changes were being made to WWE commentary teams on all three of the company’s televised brands. Former Raw commentator Jimmy Smith was released from WWE, and in his place as lead commentator would be Kevin Patrick, who previously served as a backstage interviewer on the brand. Joining Michael Cole on SmackDown in place of Pat McAfee would be Wade Barrett, and Booker T would be taking Barrett’s place in NXT alongside Vic Joseph.

On a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T talked about his role as NXT commentator and revealed that Shawn Michaels has given him notes on his role, but all criticism comes in an encouraging way. Michaels currently serves as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, making him the man in charge of NXT behind the scenes.

“He has given input for me. Encouragement, I think, is what Shawn has done for me more than anything. You know, ‘Look, man, you was good tonight, but maybe let’s see if we can work on this next week.’ Which for me is just constructive criticism. I know I need to know everybody’s names. For instance, I said Shotzi Blackheart, which was a mistake because she’s just Shotzi. Little bitty things like that I need to be conscious of. The only way I can be conscious of it is I do my due diligence, study, and make sure to try not to make those same mistakes.”

Booker T recently addressed comments made by Jimmy Smith following his WWE exit, publicly wondering if someone like Smith belongs in professional wrestling due to his comments.