Shawn Michaels Calls WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Main Eventer 'A Very Unique Talent'

"NXT" Halloween Havoc will be headlined by a big triple threat NXT Championship match on Saturday; Bron Breakker defends his title against two former "NXT UK" standouts in Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh. Ahead of the big event, Shawn Michaels, now Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, discussed his excitement surrounding one particular "NXT" talent with Comicbook.com. 

"I don't think anybody would be surprised to know that we're thrilled to have Ilja here as we are with so many of our UK stars," Michaels said. "But he is obviously an incredibly special young man, a very unique talent, to say the least."

Dragunov signed with the company back in 2019 and became a staple of "NXT UK". In August 2021, he defeated GUNTHER to capture his first NXT UK Championship at "NXT" Takeover 36. Dragunov defended his title twice against McDonagh, with the second bout in May being a "Loser Leaves NXT UK" match.

While referring to their previous matches, Michaels stated, "I'm excited because first of all, I've watched Ilja and JD go at it before. It's nothing short of spectacular every time. Then you add Bron in there," he continued. "I'm anxious to see the intensity between Ilja and Bron. I think that's going to be a fantastic match."

Halloween Havoc will mark the first in-ring encounter between Dragunov and Breakker. It's a particularly interesting dynamic for Dragunov as he had to vacate the "NXT UK" title due to injury. This led to Tyler Bate recapturing the title in a tournament before dropping it to Breakker in a unification bout at Worlds Collide.