Shawn Michaels Addresses Difficulty Of Transition To NXT 2.0 Following Black & Gold NXT: ‘Everyone Had To Face Adversity, I Think They’re Better For It’

Published: Apr 13, 2026 by Connel Rumsey | Last Updated: Apr 14, 2026 by Connel Rumsey

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Shawn Michaels Addresses Difficulty Of Transition To NXT 2.0 Following Black & Gold NXT: ‘Everyone Had To Face Adversity, I Think They’re Better For It’

Shawn Michaels has opened up on the difficulty of transitioning to WWE NXT 2.0 following the popularity of Black & Gold NXT.

Back in 2021, NXT officially went through a major rebrand, with the Black & Gold brand becoming ‘NXT 2.0’, shifting focus to be more on younger homegrown talent as opposed to independent stars from Black & Gold.

The shift was met with major backlash from fans, who grew to love the Black & Gold era of NXT, and Shawn Michaels, who led the change during Triple H’s absence, has opened up on the difficulty of the shift.

Shawn Michaels Admits Difficulty Shifting To NXT 2.0

Speaking to Adrian Hernandez, Shawn opened up on the change, noting that he believes it helped the talent in the long run due to the scrutiny the change faced.

He said:

“Oh yeah, and it’s no different from trying to follow the Attitude Era and things of that nature, you’re always going to have people that sort of look at the past through a lens in rose colored fashion. You’re gonna have people comparing eras or times or talent.

“One of the things we try to make sure to tell everybody is comparison is the death of progress, and so it’s something that you certainly keenly have to be aware of, but at the same time, I was very proud of all those individuals because they understood what they were going up against, and they heard the criticism.

“The one really positive thing, whether it was Bron, Trick, Lash, all those individuals, they’re all former athletes, and even from Melo and Je’von’s standpoint who were indie guys, they put a chip on their shoulder and it made them want to work harder, they wanted to prove people wrong.

“So that’s kind of an advantage from our standpoint. Everyone is a fighter when you get into this line of work, and they understand they’re always going to be compared to someone else and they have to withstand that. I think that’s one of the ways you build character in this line of work.

“Everybody has to face a little adversity in their careers and those young men and women faced a lot early on, and I think they’re better for it.”

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Was NXT 2.0 Switch The Right Move?

With us now almost five years removed from the switch to WWE NXT 2.0, we have been able to see the effects of the switch to the new rebrand, and whether it was beneficial long term.

There are many current WWE stars whose rise can be attributed to the switch, such as Bron Breakker, Tiffany Stratton, Trick Williams and Oba Femi, with them all likely set to be key players in the future, as well as other names like Sol Ruca who are on the verge of a call up.

However, there are also a number of former independent stars that have climbed the ranks in the company, as well as in AEW, in recent years, so completely shutting out independent recruiting for a while also damaged the brand.

Overall, NXT’s current system of both recruiting NIL athletes, as well as an eye on the independent scene with the WWE ID program, is the best way forward to help capture a variety of different talents from different backgrounds.