What’s the story?
Recently, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels was on Jim Ross’ podcast, The Ross Report. Ross asked Michaels his thoughts on part-time wrestlers competing in the WWE, to which Michaels responded by talking about the importance of selling tickets.
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Shawn Michaels was not only with the WWE during the Attitude Era boom, but he was with the company during the few lean years prior to that as well. He has a pretty good perspective on how business was for the company on the best and worst days.
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His career with the WWE spans from his debut with The Rockers in 1988 to his retirement after losing to the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI in 2010.
The heart of the matter...
Michaels’ response to Jim Ross’ question about part-time wrestlers was as follows:
“The fact of the matter is this. If I could’ve filled up the building, they would have had me there, but I couldn’t and that was the reality.
Heck, there were times where I was on top and still didn’t fill up the building, so you’ve got to… again, it’s one of those processes where it might not be fun, but you’ve got to man up.”
Michaels, with his statement, insinuated that the full-time wrestlers had to “man up”, in order to become the draws that the WWE needed them to be, which would take away the need of having part-time wrestlers perform at big pay-per-views.
What’s next?
Two of the part-timers currently in the WWE, ie Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, will headline WrestleMania 33 in Orlando next month on April 2nd. They will be squaring off for the WWE Universal Championship.
Also read: WWE News: Shawn Michaels comments on being a coach at the WWE Performance Center and NXT
Shawn Michaels, on the other hand, looks all set to become a coach at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and has been working on the same.
Author’s take
What HBK says makes complete sense. At the end of the day, the WWE is still a business that needs to be profitable in order to continue operations.
While some of the everyday wrestlers may not be happy with it, there is a draw with the general public to have part-timers like Brock Lesnar, Goldberg and The Rock, to name a few, make their returns and have occasional matches.
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