Shawn Michaels said the current generation of WWE talent is in better shape than the locker room he came up in, and he has consciously adjusted his coaching style to match each individual rather than trying to coach the way he was coached. Speaking with Stephanie McMahon on the latest episode of What’s Your Story with Stephanie McMahon, Michaels named Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and Je’Von Evans as four current talents he has worked with closely, and explained how each one requires a different approach.
Michaels said his starting point with the current crop is that they have it together in ways his peers did not.
“They’re a much healthier generation than we were, certainly than I was. And for that, I’m thrilled. That’s why I’ll never be one of those bitter old timers. I’m not gonna sit there and throw it back in my day. There are some really cool aspects of it, and some of it I thought was bulls—- and dumb,” Michaels said.
Michaels said his approach with talent comes down to adjusting to each one rather than running them through a single template.
“I have fun with a lot of them. I feel like I’m fair, and I adjust to each one of them. Great leadership is different than how you coach Trick,” Michaels said.
Michaels said he had to give Carmelo Hayes a hard-truth conversation about how the wrestling business actually rewards work.
“I’ve told Melo. I looked at Melo and said, ‘Look, this business is the way that it is, and sometimes the best people are not always going to finish in first place. You may have to work harder than somebody else,'” Michaels said.
Michaels said he tries to stay in his lane on advice and not extend too far into life lessons.
“I don’t know if it’s my job to teach them about life. I will go ahead and leave that to their parents, but I need to at least do my best to teach them about this job. I worry about anybody going down the same path that I [did]. So I’m just kind of on them to make sure that they don’t beat themselves up, or that they’re able to find joy or pleasure or comfort in something other than just this job. I didn’t have anything else. I was wrapped up in this. Every ounce of my being was wrapped up in who I was in this line of work,” Michaels said.
Michaels said Trick Williams was the talent he could push the hardest.
“Trick and I had a lot of really good conversations. He was somebody that I felt you could challenge more, because Trick is scrappy, he’s a fighter, and he’s a guy that’s not afraid to work hard. I could challenge him quite a bit,” Michaels said.
Stephanie McMahon asked Michaels if part of the bond came from the fact that both of them were raised by military fathers. Michaels said it might be, and added that faith was part of the connection too.
“I hope I’m not speaking out of line on his part. But faith is a part of lives as well. And those were things that we could talk about. I would use different aspects in that respect, to let him know why I was making whatever decision I might have been making at the time,” Michaels said.
Michaels said Oba Femi was the opposite of Trick on the coaching spectrum, requiring almost no direction.
“Oba you can just be hands off. He never once came to me and complained about anything. Rarely asked about too many things from ‘Where are we going? What are we doing? What am I doing?’ The only thing he would sort of get bothered by is he’d have this idea of how he wanted to do some things at the end of the match, and I might change it. He had really worked hard, giving it some thought, to have the initiative and show how much he was working on it. But I have the luxury of kind of knowing where we’re going, and he doesn’t,” Michaels said.
Michaels said Femi never pushed back when his proposed match finishes were overruled.
“I don’t remember a time. He just said okay. He never balked at anything. He was a consummate pro all the time,” Michaels said.
Stephanie McMahon confirmed Femi had given the same description in his own interview with the show.
“He said, ‘Look, I had the opportunity to suggest things, and even if I didn’t understand why Shawn picked the direction, Shawn has something in his head. He has a vision. I know that. I don’t. I’m not privy to that.’ He said, ‘I would do the best I could to execute, because I understand that I work for this man, and I want to give him what he’s looking for,'” Stephanie said.
Stephanie also told Michaels she had been hearing from talent that they appreciated his approach.
“Shawn, I bet you are making such a difference. They love working for you, and they love that you’re giving them clear direction, that you can be critical, but you’re also so supportive. Whatever fun you have with Je’Von Evans, the two of you seem to constantly get each other,” Stephanie said.
Michaels said his approach with Je’Von Evans is the same template he uses across the brand: have fun, but adjust to the individual.
“I have fun with a lot of them,” Michaels said.
“Oba and Trick and Je’Von, they’re all very, very special. They’re all very different in very different ways,” Michaels said.
Carmelo Hayes is a two-time former NXT Champion currently signed to the WWE main roster. Trick Williams is a former NXT Champion who is currently signed to the WWE main roster. Oba Femi is a two-time former NXT Champion who was called up to the WWE main roster at the 2026 Royal Rumble and is currently running an open challenge on WWE Monday Night Raw. Je’Von Evans debuted on WWE NXT in 2024 and is now one of the most popular stars on Raw. Shawn Michaels has been Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative for WWE NXT since 2022 and previously joined the brand as a coach and producer in 2019.
