Shawn Michaels Discusses WWE NXT Wanting To Sign Top Star
When Shawn Michaels learned that a particular wrestler was a free agent, he knew that WWE NXT had to sign that guy.
The current WWE NXT Champion is Ethan Page, who is known for being a cocky heel. What’s been remarkable about Page’s run so far is that he’s had less than ten televised matches on the WWE NXT brand yet he’s arguably the biggest star on the brand right now.
At the NXT Great American Bash Part 2 episode, Page successfully defended the NXT Championship against Oro Mensah.
Two-time WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative in WWE and also the man who books the NXT brand, which means he makes the decisions about what goes on with the NXT brand.
While talking to Good Karma Wrestling, Shawn Michaels spoke about how he wanted to sign Ethan Page as soon as he knew he was a free agent. Page is an experienced wrestler with successful runs in TNA and AEW, which is where Page worked prior to signing with NXT.
“As soon as I found out that he was available, it was something that I started looking into immediately. Again, because you’re talking about a great deal of experience, seasoned, comfortable. Somebody that knows what they’re doing out there. I didn’t know everything about him but you sort of look at him and you say, I think there’s a lot of untapped potential there.”
Shawn Michaels Likes The Experience That Ethan Page Brings NXT
As he continued, Shawn Michaels spoke about Page’s value as an experienced wrestler.
“You can hear different stories, this, that and the other. You never know what’s true but you just see potential and you think to yourself, has he ever been given the opportunity? Let’s just find out if he has and again, look, if he falls short, you fall short and then you kind of get dropped to the bottom of the card but he’s a guy, again, we sort of took a chance on, he took a chance with us and right now, I think you see that it’s been pretty successful.”
“He’s a guy that certainly brought experience to the table that we don’t have a lot of here at NXT. But also a guy who’s so excited and passionate about now somebody believing in him and so when you put those two together, it’s a great combination because he’s a guy that feels that he’s got a place that appreciates him and is investing in him and then we’ve also got the experience level that we need here in NXT.”
The WWE NXT brand is heading on the road on October 1st when their first episode airs on The CW Network. That episode takes place in Chicago, which will feature former WWE Champion CM Punk, and Shawn Michaels has spoken about what that means for the brand.