NXT Venegance Day 2024 Media Scrum: Vince McMahon Allegations, William Regal’s NXT Return, Safe Workplace Policies, Jordynne Grace, Past Allegations Against Him

NXT head booker Shawn Michaels held a media scrum on Thursday to promote this Saturday’s NXT Vengeance Day 2024 event in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Some of the notable highlights included:

• On the topic of the sex trafficking and sexual abuse allegations against Vince McMahon, Michaels stated “It’s an incredibly sad situation. As everyone knows, I have very little and absolutely nothing to do, and gladly so, with the corporate stuff that goes on. We try to focus here in NXT on the men and women that come through these doors and we do. I think we foster a safe and supportive atmosphere down here. I know that they reinstalled and upgraded I think in 2022, some of those regulations and whatnot. But look, we’re always conscious about that and one thing that I do, it’s incredibly important to support the talent and give them a safe working environment. I’d like to think that we do that absolutely, but look, we will always continue to try and be better about that and I’m very glad to say that I think we do a really fantastic job down here.“
• On the topic of if there have been talks within WWE to ensure that NXT talents have a safe workplace environment at the Performance Center, Michaels stated “Well, so look, we obviously — everyone is aware of the situation and understands it. Like I said, it’s an incredibly sad situation. I can sit here and say it sucks, but we’ve always — and I’ve mentioned it to you all in the past, we take that very seriously. I take all of the youth that come through here incredibly seriously because this is a tough line of work, regardless of what’s going on. Leaving home and coming here and pursuing your dreams is a big thing that we take incredibly seriously and we understand that young men and women that come through our doors are impressionable. So we absolutely encourage the openness and again, telling everyone to please tell us the truth and let us know how we can help. That’s something that has been here for a long time and we continue to do our best to improve on that because it is, it’s one of the most important things to me is to be able to ask those questions you’re afraid to ask. We certainly empower them to do that and give them the opportunity to do that. Right now, I feel like everybody — I’m not really trying to spin it, coming off of Royal Rumble weekend, and even going into Vengeance Day, I think that the talent in WWE and in NXT are extremely excited about the future. Look, I know we are as well and we’re looking to capitalize that at Vengeance Day. Tough situation like I said, but I got to tell you from a talent standpoint, we feel like the windows of heaven have opened up and we’re ready to go forward.“
• On the topic of if there are policies in place to ensure a safe workplace for WWE’s NXT brand, Michaels stated “We absolutely have all of those policies in place. As I said, we upgraded them in 2022. I have no doubt that they’ll be looking at continuing to improve those, but we absolutely do. We have numerous people on our medical team for outreach to go to outside of the Performance Center. We do understand that I can look at a talent and my head writer and my coaches, as they do, we can tell them to tell us the truth or express to us what’s going on. But as you know, they may not feel comfortable doing that, so we also provide help outside of here as well and have people that we can work with to get them in a complete objective environment that isn’t associated with the WWE or NXT in that respect. Again, because we, we do. Especially here. Again, we want everybody to be focused on what it is there doing and not have any struggles going forward. Again, I like to think we do a great job here and that’s seen on a regular basis.“
• On the topic of William Regal’s recent NXT return appearance and if he will be making more appearances in the future, Michaels stated “He came down here recently to endorse our new GM Ava. She’s already wielding pretty good power and doing a good job. As he mentioned to Ava, his phone is always open, he is there for her counsel in any way he can help. Here at NXT, when you have a staple and a foundational person like William Regal, you have to have more than just one shot with him here and there. I think everybody was extremely excited about his brief cameo on NXT television. I have no doubt we will have some other cameos by William Regal in the future as well.“
• On the topic of Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, and Tiffany Stratton making their Royal Rumble matches debuts at this past Saturday’s Royal Rumble 2024 event, Michaels praised all three of them and stated that he felt that they all had earned their spots and looked like they belonged there.
• On the topic of NXT’s Women’s Division, Michaels stated that he does not have issues of finding spots for women on NXT shows since there is so many talented performers on deck to chose from. Michaels praised NXT trainer Sara Amato for the work she has done helping build up their female developmental talent and called her the “best kept secret in the business.”
• On the topic of TNA talent Jordynne Grace’s performance in the Women’s Royal Rumble match, Michaels praised her work and stated that he is curious if she was interested in coming to WWE but he did not want to cause any potential tampering issues.
• On the topic of past allegations made against himself, Marty Jannetty, and Brutus Beefcake that were made by Beefcake, Michaels stated “I’ll say this, I’ve never shied away from the stupid stuff I did in the past. If you go back and ask Brutus Beefcake, he’ll tell you, one, never seen any of that actually happen. Again, wrestling stories. He’s also retracted that after saying it. I can say this. I’ve had a lot of struggles in my life and I don’t know how to say this without sounding shameful, but being with a lady was not something Shawn Michaels had a difficult time doing. I’ve never been in a situation where it was not consensual in any way, shape, or form. I’ve never taken advantage of someone in that respect. Those things are done for two reasons, and I’ve had a lot of counseling in my lifetime. The reason you do that stuff is because you dislike women or you have power issues. Shawn Michaels did not have those. He had insecurity issues and he had problems feeling like he wasn’t enough. That’s why you go to drugs and downers. The other stuff is build on power and disrespecting women, which is something I’ve never had. Any accusations against me as far as non consensual time with a woman simply is not true. That’s why they’ve never come up in anything other than, and I don’t mean to be mean to you guys, but it’s never come up in anything other than wrestling stories. Back in the day, it was dirt sheets and those things start from guys spinning a lot of stories that weren’t true.“

Full NXT Vengeance Day 2024 media scrum audio: F4WOnline.com

Source: PostWrestling.com, Fightful.com 1, 2, & 3