Shawn Michaels Talks WWE NXT Vs. AEW Ratings War, Has Major Praise For Several NXT Stars

By Marc Middleton

WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels recently spoke with Sports Illustrated about working with WWE NXT and the strong Survivor Series Weekend that the brand had. It was noted that Michaels is currently serving as Triple H's top consultant for the weekly NXT TV show, and Takeover events.

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Michaels was especially proud of what the black & yellow brand did this weekend.

"NXT is wrestling at its best," Michaels told SI. "We're going to continue on that track, and that's showing people the best talent in WWE, which is in NXT."

He also tweeted in the early morning hours of Monday, "Adrenaline from watching this group of athletes has kept me up all night. Top to bottom, Friday-Sunday they delivered. The world just watched these Superstars seize an opportunity. Crazy thing is, you haven't seen anything yet. See you Wednesday. @WWENXT #SurvivorSeries"

Michaels had big praise for NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler, and Keith Lee during his interview with SI.

"They deliver every single time they're out there," Michaels said. "All three of them all embrace and adapt to big situations. I've never seen one of them not look cool, calm or collected when they go out into high impact, highly visible matches. There hasn't been a time for any of them where the situation was too big or got the better of them, and that gives us a great deal of confidence moving forward. These are all big-time performers."

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Regarding the NXT vs. AEW Wednesday Night War, it was noted that Michaels is intensely competitive and wants NXT to defeat AEW every week in the ratings, but he is focused on the larger picture. It was also noted that the move to weekly live TV has presented the NXT roster with new challenges in on-air presence, presentation, and timing.

"It's live, you only get one shot at it," Michaels said. "People don't remember that we went on live television once upon a time and things happened that weren't supposed to happen. It's a learning process. I think one of the things the fans appreciate and enjoy is watching people grow in that respect. That's what they did with so many of us, especially me, growing from a moderately decent performer into one that got much better. That is going to happen with our talent, too."

He continued about the weekly ratings war, "We're going to do what we always do," he said. "And that's put on the best show we can and let the chips fall where they may."

You can see the aforementioned tweet below:

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