How Shawn Michaels Saved WWE Star’s Finisher
The sharp wrestling mind of Shawn Michaels helped a rising WWE star feel comfortable using their finishing move.
Shawn Michaels is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer who is highly regarded by wrestling fans as one of the greatest in-ring performers and all-around wrestlers in the history of the business.
For the current group of WWE superstars, Shawn is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative in WWE, which is a long job title that also means he runs the NXT brand as the booker and the man in charge.
Carmelo Hayes worked closely with Shawn Michaels on the WWE NXT brand for over two years while having long reigns as the NXT Champion and NXT North American Champion.
While speaking with the Toronto Sun, Melo talked about how Michaels helped him use the Nothing But Net move (a leg drop off the top rope to the back of the head of the opponent) as a finsher.
“I used to do it (‘Nothing But Net’) on the independents but it was a throwaway, you know what I mean? You don’t know better, what’s what and then you get to WWE and your skills get honed and I remember Shawn (Michaels), he was the one — I remember I brought it up. I was like, ‘I can do this move off the top rope,’ and I was working with a bunch of big guys at that time.
I was in the Breakout tournament. I was working Josh Briggs and Duke Hudson and Odyssey (Jones) so I was working these huge guys and I remember thinking, I need a finish. Something that I can do and I was like, ‘I can do this move’ and I remember coach (Matt) Bloom mentioned, he’s like, ‘Hey, I just want to let you know, that’s a big move. It’s not a move you’re gonna be able to do every night.’
I was like, ‘Hold on, I don’t plan on it,’ and then Shawn had just been — that was his jam. ‘You gotta have a finish that’s over and everybody knows’ and so he was very adamant, like, ‘You’re hitting your finish, you’re hitting your finish’ and here we are and people think it takes more out of me than it really does.
I’ve perfected it. I understand exactly where I need to land so I’m not taking the brunt of it. I understand how far I need — you know what I mean? I can hit it at any point. I’ve done it over a 100 times so I mean, that’s kind of what I’m going with. Now, I am playing with finding a different finish. Because I have a deep moveset that I can throw in there here and there so, I’m looking into something else possibly.”
Shawn Michaels knows what he is talking about when discussing moves you can hit on any opponent regardless of their size since Michaels used the Sweet Chin Music superkick throughout his career. It’s a move that will always be associated with Michaels no matter how many current stars continue to use it.
Could Shawn Michaels Wrestle Again?
Former WWE Superstar Fandango is now known as JDC (Johnny Dango Curtis) in TNA Wrestling. Recently, he made the claim that Shawn Michaels told him that he had another match or two left in him.
“You know who I talked to [at NXT] last week, who said he’s got one or two matches left in him? Shawn Michaels. Yeah, and that’s a guy, he’s the reason why I got into the business. So honestly, it’d probably never happen, but that would be my dream match.”
Michaels retired as a wrestler in 2010, but he did come back for one more match at Crown Jewel 2018 that won’t be remembered as a wrestling classic. However, he got a nice payday out of it.