What is the current role for Shawn Michaels in WWE?
As most of you know, Shawn Michaels and Triple H are close friends so one of Shawn’s roles is helping out down at WWE NXT. He likes it because it gives him something to do and it allows him to work as a trainer. Michaels founded the Texas Wrestling Academy in 1999, in what was originally know as the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy. They produced several well known talents such as Daniel Bryan, Brian Kendrick, Paul London, Lance Cade, Shawn Hernandez, Matt Bentley and more. Not only is Shawn one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time but he is a proven trainer. He was involved in the angle with Randy Orton on last night’s Raw in order to give one more dimension to Orton’s SummerSlam program and I look for sporadic appearances such as that to continue.
Why does WWE want to sign Daniel Cormier when they already signed and released Cain Velasquez?
UFC stars crossing over to WWE is nothing new. Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn did it before anyone else. WWE signed Cain Velasquez in the hopes he would be a big draw, as he had already trained as professional wrestler. It didn’t work out and when they made cuts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it just made sense to go in another direction. As for Cormier, he is seen as a talent “still at the top of his game” and WWE wants to use his star power. Had he not suffered the torn cornea during his fight last Saturday, I would have said there would have been a good chance he would have appeared at SummerSlam. You can read our exclusive story here in the Backstage News section.
Will the WWE “ThunderDome” experience make that big of a difference? I think for as long as there are no fans, the shows are going to be difficult to watch.
You are exactly right in that no experience – pyrotechnics, camera angles, video boards, etc. – are going to replace a live audience. Vince McMahon understands how important having a live audience is to their product and he desperately wants it back. But it is what it is and there is absolutely nothing he can to do to change that. So WWE is moving forward with the ThunderDome, which Kevin Dunn made sound awesome in this interview. I will give it to WWE for looking at innovative ways to do what they can with what they have. Vince created a bubble before anyone else and now we see the sports leagues doing exactly what he was criticized so much for. Vince always seems to be a step ahead when it comes to other entities and it is how he has been so successful.
We hear all of these rumors from WWE talent looking to jump to AEW, as you addressed yesterday, AJ Styles is unhappy, etc. Why?
There is a tremendous anti-WWE bias out there, especially when it comes to the pro wrestling media. It is so blatantly obvious, especially when you step away from it for a couple years like I did and then come back. A lot of rumors are written with some truth in mind but blended to the point where they say something that is untrue. In other words, Fake WWE News is created. Have some WWE talents checked with AEW? Absolutely. But does it mean people are lining up at the door to go there? Absolutely not. AJ Styles was very unhappy with Paul Heyman so he was moved to SmackDown, where he is booked as Intercontinental Champion. He has been left off recent pay-per-views but is still being booked at the top of the card on SmackDown. So was AJ unhappy? Yes. Is AJ still unhappy and lined up at the door to get out? No.
The next installment of Ask WNC is scheduled to run on Wednesday, August 19, 2020.
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