Shawn Michaels Was Behind WWE Star’s Early Gimmick Change

WWE

An early gimmick employed by a now-former WWE star was the creative brainchild of the Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.

A two-time WWE Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels joined NXT in November 2018, serving as a writer and producer before moving to his roles as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative in September 2022.

With Joe Gacy having signed with WWE in August 2020, Michaels would be the man who gifted him the “safe space” gimmick he would use in September of the following year.

Speaking about his time in NXT 2.0 and that gimmick in particular on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the star now known as Joseph Sawyer would say:

“That was a crazy time. So I get hired in the post-COVID group to come into the Performance Center. Almost for a year, I’m kind of just there, doing classes, meeting everybody, trying to find my way on TV.

“I guess in my head, I’m like, ‘Alright, well, I’m here, so now I have to figure out how I get on.’ So it did start, my technical first debut was we had the NXT Breakout Tournament, and I had a match and I went out first round.

“That was still when it was like Black & Gold era, but then they kind of told us like, ‘Hey, things are changing. We’re going to be starting like a new version of NXT.’

“That’s when the conversation started for the new character. It began as Shawn Michaels’ full idea. The way he explained it to me was more of like a Scientology-type thing turned into a social justice warrior kind of thing, but the whole idea was always going to be that it would eventually turn into kind of a cult thing.”

Gacy would eventually get his own disciples, in the form of Dyad, with James Drake and Zack Gibson of Grizzled Young Veterans being repackaged as Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler, respectively, and the faction fo Schism being born in July 2022. Prior to becoming NXT General Manager, Ava Raine would also join Schism.

This wasn’t the only darker character that Gacy would portray during his WWE tenure, with the star also commenting on how his involvement in Wyatt Sicks emerged.

Gacy, along with all members of The Wyatt Sicks, would be released from his contract in April of this year. Gibson and Drake have since signed with AEW, having debuted in April 2024, returning to their Grizzled Young Veterans names.

The Need For Change

From its first event in February 2014 to September 2021, WWE NXT was the ‘black and gold’ themed brand, a developmental pathway to Raw and SmackDown.

While its purpose would continue, September 2021 saw NXT 2.0, with a new logo being one of the most obvious changes to the television product. With the focus very much on its younger cast of stars, the product would continue to feed up to the main roster, witht the WWE Performance Center serving at its home.

Among the changes would be the sunsetting of the TakeOver name for its PLEs, with a shift to WWE Network for such events, as opposed to airing on pay-per-view.

The change jarred with a segment of NXT fans who had grown attached to the original format of the WWE product, which itself was originally launched as a scripted reality television series. Change, however, is a necessary element when it comes to progress, and not every change will land or be as easily accepted. There’s certainly an argument that trying something new is better than sticking with the status quo, particularly when times, sensibilities and expectations change, and WWE are no different in this respect.

While it may not be as fondly remembered as its “black and gold” predecessor, there were still successes to be hand, particularly when it comes to stars who have seen their fortunes continue on the main roster.

NXT 2.0 would come to an end in September 2022, reverting to a more subdued color scheme for its logo, but retaining the vision of guiding younger stars, and a number of recognizable independent talent, towards careers on the main roster.

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• nxt
• wwe
• shawn michaels
• Joe Gacy

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