WWE News: Triple H And Shawn Michaels Open Up About ‘Crown Jewel’ Match, Discuss Performance Center
Triple H and Shawn Michaels sat down with Corey Graves on the latest edition of the After the Bell podcast, where they discussed a variety of wrestling-related subjects. However, one of the main topics of the conversation was Michaels’ decision to come out of retirement for one more match at last year’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.
As quoted by Wrestling Inc, Triple H believes that Michaels being exposed to the business on a daily basis again factored into his decision to end his eight-year in-ring hiatus. “The Showstopper” has been coaching at the Performance Center for a couple of years now, which has led to him finding his passion for the wrestling business again.
“I think sometimes when you leave the business — I see it in a lot of guys — when you first leave you just want to get away from it a little bit and put down the everyday frustrations of it. I think that is what a lot of people have to do and Shawn Michaels was away from it for a long period of time; completely disconnected from it and then he came down to the Performance Center. That place is infectious and the youth of it and the excitement and their excitement for it, it’s just contagious.”
According to Triple H, Michaels’ initial involvement saw him visiting the Performance Center a couple of times a week and training some of the superstars. However, it didn’t take long for “The Heartbreak Kid” to get a taste for it, and these days, he’s involved in every aspect of the backstage process — from coaching superstars to producing matches.
Back to regular life for @ShawnMichaels… #WWECrownJewel pic.twitter.com/QQO9Swe25d
— WWE (@WWE) November 3, 2018
Michaels backed up Triple H’s assessment as well. The Hall of Famer said he needed time away from wrestling to recharge his batteries. After a while though, he discovered that he could still contribute to the business but didn’t realize how until he was offered a job at the Performance Center.
Triple H and Michaels also told Graves that their current roles behind the scenes in NXT are more rewarding than their own in-ring accomplishments. While the Hall of Famers admitted that they had a lot of fun during their wrestling primes, they seem to find more value in helping NXT stars find success.
It remains to be seen if Michaels will lace up his boots for more matches down the line, but for now, the Hall of Famer seems passionate about his position in WWE.
