Shawn Michaels Believes New NXT Women’s North American Title Reflects Division’s Depth

The NXT Women’s North American Title, introduced earlier in the year, serves as a secondary championship for their women’s division, comparable to the men’s NXT North American Championship. At NXT Battleground, Kelani Jordan made history by winning a high-stakes multi-woman ladder match to become the inaugural champion.

In an interview on the Hall of Fame podcast with NXT commentator Booker T and his co-host Brad Gillmore, Shawn Michaels discussed the rationale behind creating the title. The Heartbreak Kid highlighted the depth of talent in NXT, emphasizing the importance of showcasing as many wrestlers as possible.

Michaels noted that introducing a Women’s North American Championship was logical, matching the men’s equivalent title and explained that the decision was straightforward given the size of the talent pool.

Furthermore, the WWE Hall of Famer also pointed out that the women’s roster sometimes surpassed the men’s in-depth and acknowledged the significant growth of women’s wrestling in WWE and the industry with the new championship reflecting their progress in the wrestling industry.

“We certainly saw the depth. We’re always trying to get as much of our talent into the show and represented as much as possible. I think we do a great job in NXT of having multiple storylines going on with all sorts of different talent, men and women. If you’re going to apples for apples, you have a men’s championship, you have a women’s NXT championship. You have a men’s North American, it only seems right to have a women’s North American Championship. As much as I joke, ‘Feminist Icon HBK’ of all things, it seemed like a simplistic thing for us to do. Especially given our depth. Not only does it make sense in fairnes, but certainly from the depth standpoint, we could certainly handle it. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Our depth, in both of our rosters, the women sometimes outshine the men in this respect when you think about the sheer depth of it. I think it’s because over the years, women’s wrestling in WWE, and all around the business, has grown exponentially. As it should. Now, it’s just getting on an even keel with the men’s division. It’s a wonderful thing. I look at the health of the overall industry, as a whole, is doing fantastic.”

Moreover, Kelani Jordan is proving herself to be a credible champion since winning the title. After her recent title defence against Sol Ruca, she is now set to defend her title against Tatum Paxley on Week 2 of the NXT Great American Bash. So we will have to wait and see if the title would be able to establish the same impact and legacy as other NXT titles have done so far.

Do you think Shawn Michaels and management’s decision to introduce an NXT Women’s North American title was the right one? Sound off in the comments!