Shawn Michaels Was Comfortable Losing So Many NXT Superstars In WWE Draft

WWE called up a lot of NXT Superstars during the 2023 Draft. That left NXT without any women’s champions on their roster, and Shawn Michaels is responsible for making it all work.

Click here for our complete coverage of Shawn Michaels’ WWE NXT Battleground conference call.

WWE called up Pretty Deadly, Cameron Grimes, and Grayson Waller to SmackDown, which could be looked at as a legendary lineup. The RAW brand got JD McDonagh, Zoey Stark, Indi Hartwell, Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn, Apollo Crews, Kayden Carter & Katana Chance, Indus Sher, and Odyssey Jones. Meanwhile, Von Wagner and Xyon Quinn are free agents.

PW Insider provided the following notes about what Shawn Michaels said when he was asked about losing so much of his roster to Raw and SmackDown. This was HBK’s first draft, so he doesn’t have anything to compare the experience to. All in all, he’s comfortable with how things turned out.

When asked about the notice he was given for the recent call-ups compared to the past, Michaels mentioned that this was his first experience with the Draft, but he felt comfortable with it. He acknowledged that they knew they would be losing some tag teams, such as Pretty Deadly and Isla/Alba, who were incredibly talented and sought after by the main roster. There were other call-ups that made sense as well, although there were some surprises. With nearly 15 people lost in the Draft, the show underwent significant changes, but Michaels enjoys the challenge of adjusting and pivoting to make it work successfully.

Those NXT call-ups are just starting to get their feet wet on the main roster. Only time will tell what happens to them, but Xyon Quinn and Von Wagner are still free agents, so they can still stop by NXT.

WWE likes to capture organic reactions during the Draft, but it’s good that Shawn Michaels wasn’t 100% caught off guard. After all, he might have been a bit upset if Triple H really decided to rug pull all of his women’s champions without any notice.

What’s your take on this situation with the 2023 WWE Draft? Will NXT be better with new talent in the mix? Sound off in the comments!