Ahead of Saturday’s WWE NXT Deadline, Shawn Michaels talked to the media for nearly an hour on Thursday afternoon where he gave some insight into the rehiring of CM Punk, McKenzie Mitchell’s release, Wes Lee’s injury, and more.
On Punk returning, Michaels said he felt the decision made business sense for everyone and is glad to see him back. He said it makes the end of someone’s career easier if they go out on their own terms. He reiterated he seems them as very similar people.
He was blindsided by Mitchell’s release last week, but said she is always part of the NXT family and that he hopes they can work together again someday. She was very well-liked by people down there, according to him.
There is no update on NXT Europe other than that they are still working on it and that the region is an important one for the company.
The decision to pull Wes Lee from this Saturday’s Deadline was a last-second one as Lee has been struggling with his injury for a while and that they didn’t know the depth of it. He didn’t think he could make it through the match given the pain he’s in so they made the call.
To hear his thoughts on Lexis King, Trick Williams, why the 18-34 demo is enjoying NXT more these days, and more, click the link below for the audio:
WWE held a press conference following Money in the Bank.
Several WWE stars, as well as Chief Content Officer of WWE Triple H, took questions from the media following Saturday’s Money in the Bank event. Here are the highlights.
Cody Rhodes
When asked about WrestleMania in London, Rhodes said there’s so many potential markets. He hopes it happens, saying John Cena may know something we don’t know.
Regarding the crowd at tonight’s show, he said if the crowd wants to play, let them. Let it ride.
Says that while winning the World Heavyweight title would be “outstanding”, it would not be finishing the story. He said that finishing the story was always winning the title that his dad didn’t get. Says you’ll probably hear more about the story in his upcoming documentary soon.
Damian Priest & IYO SKY (w/Bayley)
Regarding the finish to the Money in the Bank ladder match, SKY said that “we won”, referring to herself and Bayley.
When asked about the finish to the World Heavyweight title match, Priest said that he and Balor are brothers, everything is good. He said that the goal wasn’t to cash in. He wanted Seth to feel the pressure and for Balor to win. “He didn’t, and there’s nothing I could do about that,” he said.
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
After listing a number of NXT and main roster talent, Morgan said the options are “endless” regarding who they would like to face next.
Morgan said regarding Baszler’s turn on Rousey that they went over every single scenario leading to the match and “we didn’t consider that”.
Seth Rollins
Mentions Carmelo Hayes as super talented, would love to get into the ring with him. He also put over Nathan Frazer, saying he has come a long way.
Triple H
Regarding the crowd at tonight’s event, he said that the crowd is the star. The crowd is what makes the excitement.
He said Money in the Bank was the highest grossing arena event in the history of WWE. Friday’s SmackDown was the highest grossing SmackDown in WWE history.
Triple H said that the only injury that took place at Money in the Bank was someone on their way backstage rolling their ankle on the stage. Didn’t say who.
He was first asked about the potential of WrestleMania in London. He thanked John Cena, saying he put him “in an unenviable position.” He said that having WrestleMania in London would be tough, saying “I wish it was that easy.” However, their recent international success with other pay-per-view events this year “bodes well for international”. He finished by saying never say never, and the intent is there.
Regarding Drew McIntyre and reports of his status in WWE, Triple H said “If Drew had an issue, it’s news to me.” He said McIntyre was out with an injury and wanted to fix something else while he was gone. He called McIntyre one of the highlight superstars of this timeframe in this era.
When asked about NXT Europe, he said the acquisition by Endeavor slowed down the process. He said they’d love to explore that and give local European talent an opportunity, but it just takes time.
WWE has filed to trademark two terms related to NXT.
According to a report from Fightful, the company submitted filings on September 16 for “NXT Europe” and “NXT Global.”
WWE announced last month that NXT Europe will launch in 2023 with NXT UK providing “the foundation” for the brand.
“NXT UK will end in its current form and serve as the foundation for a bigger, better NXT Europe,” WWE stated to Slam Wrestling.
During an interview with Ariel Helwani earlier this month, Paul “Triple H” Levesque also spoke about wanting NXT Europe to serve as a model for similar brands across the globe.
“We’re going to bring NXT Europe back in a bigger way than it ever was before. And the intent is, hopefully, if we are successful at it, to replicate that so it’s NXT Europe, it’s NXT India, it’s NXT South Africa, it’s NXT Mexico. Be able to take those products, put them around everywhere, and eventually, over time, to build brands in those markets locally and build World Cup scenarios around that,” he said.
The purposes of the trademarks are listed as:
Mark For: NXT EUROPE trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of entertainment services, namely, a show about professional wrestling; entertainment services, namely, the production and exhibition of professional wrestling events rendered live and through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing wrestling news and information through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing a website in the field of sports entertainment information.
Mark For: NXT GLOBAL trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of entertainment services, namely, a show about professional wrestling; entertainment services, namely, the production and exhibition of professional wrestling events rendered live and through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing wrestling news and information through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment through broadcast media including television and distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; providing a website in the field of sports entertainment information.
Join on-air personality Denise Salcedo on Speak Now Pro Wrestling as she recaps the August 23, 2022 edition of NXT 2.0. This show featured more NXT UK talent, belt unifications, the build to Worlds Collide, a promo exchange between Apollo Crews and Grayson Waller, a noteworthy promo from Cora Jade, the love story between Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis, plus a lights out main event with Wendy Choo and Tiffany Stratton. This is the perfect podcast to stay up to date with NXT!
WWE will be expanding into more international markets beginning next year.
Update —
WWE has clarified that NXT UK will form the foundation of NXT Europe beginning in 2023.
“NXT UK will end in its current form and serve as the foundation for a bigger, better NXT Europe,” WWE stated to Slam Wrestling.
Original —
WWE officially announced the creation of NXT Europe on Thursday. The final NXT UK show will be Worlds Collide on September 4, the day before Clash at the Castle and the day of AEW All Out. Worlds Collide will air beginning at 4 p.m Eastern time while All Out will begin later that night.
Following Worlds Collide, NXT UK will then go on hiatus before NXT Europe launches in 2023.
“Following the success of our live events and talent identification efforts throughout all of, we believe this is the perfect time to expand NXT beyond the UK,” said Shawn Michaels, WWE Vice President of Talent Development Creative.
Michaels was also interviewed by Fox News about NXT’s expansion into Europe.
“So some of it, like everything with the WWE and NXT, that pipeline is always fluid. It’s going to be one of those situations where we’re going to have a lot of representation going into Worlds Collide,” he continued. “It’s what NXT has always been and that is to be a pipeline for the WWE in support of RAW and SmackDown. That process is going to continue. We’re going to use the UK talent that we can to go into Worlds Collide and keep that representation out there for as long as we can. And as we move things over here in the process, we’ll make all those decisions in 2023 about who’s a part of NXT Europe and who continues to stay here in NXT in hopes of getting a main roster call up.”
Michaels continued to comment on possible events for NXT Europe across the continent.
“I remember all the times we went to Germany it was off the charts, just fantastic. But I don’t know. I would love to kind of go to Venice, Italy, but that’s just me,” he said. “But look with WWE and NXT, we just want to go and represent our brand across the world. I certainly have some favorite places I would like to go. Look, I think Paris, France would be pretty cool.”
“This has been a goal of Hunter’s for quite some time, and I think clearly with what has gone on recently with him taking on creative, he felt that now would be a great time to have the ability to do that. NXT UK was one of the first steps in that process.”
Michaels also spoke about what Worlds Collide means for the NXT UK brand.
“It’s sort of a pseudo-final event for NXT UK at Worlds Collide,’ he explained. “I’m just excited that we’re growing it. A lot of things we have talked about in the past, now they’re finally happening and this talent’s gonna have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of all their hard work.”
“NXT UK has so much European talent as it is, so it’s only fitting we grow that brand to cover Europe. WWE is a global entity, and NXT is obviously a huge part of that,” he continued.
“Being able to help them and be part of that process is really one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever gotten to do in my entire life.”
Several NXT UK wrestlers appeared on NXT on Tuesday, building up angles for Worlds Collide. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate got involved in a faceoff with NXT Champion Bron Breakker to close the show.
