Ex-WWE star presents himself as viable candidate after Shawn Michaels' comment on recruitment

Shawn Michaels is cooking on NXT as WWE's Vice President of Talent Development Creative. The former black-and-gold brand got a boost recently, with TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace making appearances. NXT put on a successful Battleground show this past Sunday inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with Grace being part of one of the main event matches.

Shawn Michaels recently claimed that the company's recruitment strategy is more about the athlete's character than his/her talents. This prompted former employee Matt Cardona to give a response on social media.

Cardona has long been showing an interest in returning to his previous stomping grounds, especially on X (formerly Twitter), although he has also made it clear that he does not need it. After The Heartbreak Kid made the aforementioned comment, the man formerly known as Zack Ryder posted this:

Obviously, it would be an easy transition for Matt Cardona, especially now that his wife, Chelsea Green, is a featured performer on the program. The latter is currently on SmackDown. Her tag team partner, Piper Niven, will challenge Women's Champion Bayley this Saturday night at Clash at the Castle: Scotland. Green will likely be in Niven's corner in Glasgow.

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What did Shawn Michaels actually say about WWE recruiting talents?

Speaking to the Schmo, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels discussed athletes, as finding new talents is his area of expertise these days. The Showstopper listed a few things that are mandatory, like the 'It' factor, charisma, footwork, and coordination, among other things.

Michaels also added that they have to be coachable. But above everything else, it comes down to character:

"When everything is said and done, it's going to come down to attitude and character. That's one of the things in NXT that Hunter put in place years ago when he started NXT. Character trumps talent. 90% of the time, that's a culture we continue to try and cultivate. [...] I do know that we are recruiting incredible athletes from around the world and the future of WWE is very bright because NXT right now is kicking a** in every category, whether it's men, women, anyone else out there, we are finding it and we're going to continue to bring them to NXT and have the success we've been having," Shawn said.

As seen in the above picture, Carmelo Hayes has come a long way from NXT. He is presently one of the featured stars on WWE SmackDown, having already stepped in the ring opposite some of the legends of the business and sparking rivalries with others. The names include Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes, among others.