In a recent media call to promote WWE NXT: Heatwave 2024, NXT Executive Producer Shawn Michaels discussed the deliberate blending of fiction and reality in the current NXT storyline involving Brooks Jensen.
Jensen, who has publicly claimed free agency and made appearances at independent events, has conveyed dissatisfaction with the NXT brand and specifically with Michaels.
Michaels said, “We do our best, as we’ve always done in this business and WWE, to blur those lines between reality and what is storyline or sports entertainment. We always want to be sensitive to that and don’t ever want to overstep. Do sometimes you miss the mark and there is something that people take from it that you didn’t intend? Certainly, those things do happen. All I can do is, as someone who has been through it, at a time where people were not sensitive to it any way, shape or form, you can trust that there is somebody who is very sensitive to it. If I feel like those things are being abused in any way, shape, or form, we’d certainly back off of that. For us, I will always say, if I even feel that, I’ll make sure the next week it is made perfectly clear that it’s nothing more than a storyline that is meant to be interesting and compelling, but not ignoring the real world that is out there.”
In a recent interview with “MuscleManMalcolm,” Je’Von Evans discussed his upcoming opportunity to challenge for the NXT Championship at WWE NXT: Heatwave 2024 and articulated his strategy for maximizing this chance.
Evans is scheduled to face Trick Williams at the forthcoming event on Sunday alongside Ethan Page and Shawn Spears.
He said, “Honestly, it’s still surprising to me. Every day when we’re training, I’ll be in the ring or just on the apron, learning from other coaches, it’s still unreal. I’m still like, yo, there’s no way I’m here. It’s starting to sink in a little bit. But I’m still like, okay, I’m signed, and this is a dream job. But just to have the thought that this is my first PLE, I’m in the main event for the title, it’s a goal that I didn’t think it would happen as soon as it did. But it’s cool. I’m grateful, blessed.”
