Shawn Michaels On NXT 2.0 Talent Being "Held To An Unfair Standard"

WWE NXT 2.0 debuted in September with a new look, new feel, and most importantly, brand new stars. The show introduced several new characters and names the audience had never seen before, leaving only a few NXT originals still on the roster.

During an interview with TVInsider.com, Shawn Michaels spoke about his role with NXT since Triple H has been forced to take a leave of absence, and why NXT 2.0 has been held to an unfair standard. The WWE Hall of Famer mentioned how happy he is to still have several NXT veterans still around and knows NXT 2.0 put a lot of young talent in a tough spot right from the start.

"I'm just excited about this new launch of NXT," he said. "I will say, I think they get held to an unfair standard. Nobody likes change. I know that was very tough. I thought [WarGames] was a fantastic show. I'm so thankful for our veterans who go out there and deliver consistently like they always do. We have such faithful veterans that are out there and having to bring up an entirely new generation. We put a lot of our young guys in a really tough spot, we threw them in the deep end like we've been doing the last 10 weeks. They went out there and looked like they belonged."

NXT War Games came and went this past weekend, where we saw Bron Breakker win the main event for Team 2.0 by pinning NXT original and champion, Tommaso Ciampa. The show was also Kyle O'Reilly's final show under contract with NXT and it's unknown whether or not he will resign with the WWE.

Shawn Michaels also spoke about the amount of pressure that's on these young superstars to perform on live television given that they haven't wrestled for very long. The Heartbreak Kid said it's great for this talent to bring a breath of fresh air to the audience and a lot of the talent have that "it factor".

"There has never been a generation that has been put in a position that these young men and women have," Michaels added. "I was in the wrestling business 8 or 10 years before I had to go out there and do live TV. These guys have only been doing it for 10 weeks. That's an amazing credit to their hard work and credit to them. They also have the 'it factor' and are gifted men and women. The fact of them coming to a sports background, they are goal-oriented, disciplined, and focused which has been a breath of fresh air. It's great energy to be around."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit TVInsider.com with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.