Shawn Michaels Details Why WWE NXT Underwent Recent Change
The WWE NXT boss Shawn Michaels has explained why the brand recently introduced a new championship.
At the WWE NXT PLE Battleground this past June, the brand introduced a second women’s championship. In addition to the NXT Women’s Championship currently held by Roxanne Perez, NXT added the NXT Women’s North American Championship as well.
It only made sense since the men in NXT have been able to go after the North American Championship in addition to the NXT Title, so now the women have a secondary title to go after as well.
Shawn Michaels is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer who oversees the NXT brand as the booker of the shows. Michaels is officially the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative in WWE, which gives him a lot of power especially when it comes to NXT and the roster they have.
The first NXT Women’s North American Champion is Kelani Jordan, who won a six-woman Ladder Match to capture the title. Jordan has already proven to be a fighting champion as well.
While speaking to NXT announcer Booker T & Brad Gillmore on Hall of Fame, Michaels explained that the reason the brand added the new women’s title is because of the depth they have in the women’s division in NXT.
“We certainly saw the depth. We’re always trying to get as much of our talent into the show and represented as much as possible. I think we do a great job in NXT of having multiple storylines going on with all sorts of different talent, men and women.”
“If you’re going to apples for apples, you have a men’s championship, you have a women’s NXT championship. You have a men’s North American, it only seems right to have a women’s North American Championship.”
Shawn Michaels Says The Women Sometimes Outshine The Men In NXT
The discussion continued with Shawn Michaels admitting that sometimes the women of NXT outshine the men on the show and it’s another example of the depth of female talent on the brand.
“As much as I joke, ‘Feminist Icon HBK’ of all things, it seemed like a simplistic thing for us to do. Especially given our depth. Not only does it make sense in fairness, but certainly from the depth standpoint, we could certainly handle it. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
“Our depth, in both of our rosters, the women sometimes outshine the men in this respect when you think about the sheer depth of it. I think it’s because over the years, women’s wrestling in WWE, and all around the business, has grown exponentially. As it should. Now, it’s just getting on an even keel with the men’s division.”
“It’s a wonderful thing. I look at the health of the overall industry, as a whole, is doing fantastic.”
An example of the depth of NXT women’s division was evident on this week’s show when Shawn Michaels booked four women’s matches on the show and three of those women’s matches took place in the final hour, which included a terrific Roxanne Perez-Thea Hail main event.