Kyle O’Riley credits WWE legend Shawn Michaels for teaching him how to structure a main event wrestling match.
Before his departure for All Elite Wrestling, O’Riley had singles run as a main event talent in NXT. At the time, the WWE wanted to give him a push while his partner Bobby Fish dealt with an injury. NXT had him feud against his former Undisputed Era leader Adam Cole and Finn Balor.
O’Riley had experience as a singles wrestler in other promotions, like Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. However, he thanks Michaels for learning new skills on how to compete in the main event. On the All Elite Wrestling Unrestricted Podcast the new signee explained how the legend help him.
“I learned alot about structuring like a main event match and you know there’s that age old adage of pro wrestling listen to the people, listen to the people, ane never really got what the meant,” said O’Riley.
He continued, “…Shawn really kind of taught us just to instead of going up and down with the crowd reaction you try and just keep it at a level. So like on a double down just don’t move and like until they start to die and, then you can move and, then you can bring them back up and, it’s just little things like that you don’t really think of and, it’s really hard to learn on your own until someone just kind of explains it to you and, then a light bulb goes off and just helps take your game to next level.”
Shawn Michaels Current Role in NXT
O’Riley isn’t the only former NXT talent to praise Michaels for his help. Adam Cole and Johnny Garagno have also credited the WWE legend for his coaching and appreciates their time working with him.
While NXT has changed to NXT 2.0, he continues to work closely with younger talent to succeed. His job as a coach helped Michaels get promoted to NXT 2.0 Vice President of Talent Development.
Kyle O’Riley in AEW
O’Riley signed with AEW on Dec. 22, 2021, but he still is thankful for his time in NXT. In the interview, he didn’t share any ill will to his former employer.
In AEW, he’s reformed ReDragon with Bobby Fish and hope to become AEW Tag Team Champions. Although he is back in a tag team, it’s still possible to see O’Riley compete in one on one matches.
It’s unclear if AEW fans will see him compete in the main event as a singles star.
