Shawn Michaels Talks Struggling To Run WWE NXT After Triple H's Cardiac Event

Shawn Michaels admits it was tough for him to take the reins of "NXT" during Paul "Triple H" Levesque's absence. Last year, Levesque underwent heart surgery following a serious cardiac event. "The Game" was in heart failure and had to have a defibrillator put in his chest.

Michaels, who is now WWE's Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, was dealt a rough hand as he had to take what Levesque helped build while also dealing with what his higher-ups wanted for "NXT" during the Vince McMahon regime. He explained that time period during an appearance on "The MMA Hour."

"Well, look, nothing sucks more than to have to follow in those footsteps, and then have all these abrupt changes that you have to then take over," Michaels said. "I will say this, my knowledge at the time, for instance, the logo, that came at the last minute and even from Hunter's standpoint, from the best of my understanding it was, 'This is what it is.' I think that's maybe something a lot of people — and I saw the interview you did with Hunter where he said – look, I know there are a lot of things people thought he wouldn't have done or decisions he didn't make, but they actually were."

With that said, Michaels admitted that there were also some significant changes that were out of Levesque's hands.

"So, there were some things that he did know about, but then there was others, especially as it started going and he wasn't there, that were very different and very difficult to sort of deal with."

If you use any quotes for this article, please credit "The MMA Hour," with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.