Shawn Michaels on connecting with the NXT talent as a producer/coach

As one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Shawn Michaels is someone a lot of wrestlers look to for advice. With Michaels working in NXT as a trainer, coach, and producer, many of those wrestlers have a direct line to pick his brain.

With that amount of access, Michaels has also had to adjust his approach to dispensing the helpful tips to the NXT talent.

Shawn Michaels talks about his connection with the NXT Roster

Appearing on the My Mom’s Basement podcast, Michaels said this about interacting with the NXT roster (h/t to Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert for the transcription):

"“When I was coaching on a more regular basis — I never watched my stuff with people, I was very uncomfortable doing that. When I did it, it would be one time, usually after whatever pay-per-view or Raw, I’d have them burn me a DVD and I’d watch it once and take my notes mentally and that would be it. I wasn’t a guy who pored over his stuff a lot because I always thought the business was evolving and growing and moving,” Michaels said. “I did have to get over that when I started coaching guys who grew up with me. When I found I was able to connect with them on a mental and emotional level, professionally and personally, by letting them understand where I was at in that match. What connected most with them was where I was at personally and emotionally going into those matches. Understand that there were always nerves and expectations and to deal with that and convince them that there was never a thought in their mind that I didn’t have. I wanted them to know that there was somebody affirming what they were going through. This business is hard enough in a physical sense. The mental and emotional stuff can also be difficult and I want to make sure I help them there as well. I probably got a lot closer to these guys than they expected at first, but we all appreciate it a little more. Everything that I did, was what it was. I want them to continue to press forward and evolve because that’s what drives this business and success.”"

Outside of his backstage role, Michaels has appeared on NXT a couple of times, once as part of a skit with Triple H and Brian “Road Dogg” James prior to last year’s NXT TakeOver: In Your House and another to set up Santos Escobar and Jordan Devlin’s NXT Cruiserweight Championship ladder match at NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver.

As for the main roster, Michaels last appeared during the fall of 2020 as part of the Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre feud.