While Shawn Michaels, by his own admission, doesn't always get every booking decision he wants for NXT, as developmental understandably falls a bit lower on the pecking order than RAW and SmackDown, HBK has been incredibly creative in finding ways to put his young Superstars over with a little help from the experienced stars who came before them.

Seth Rollins wrestling Bron Breakker? A+ stuff. Dijack abandoning his Retribution mask in favor of cosplaying as Sylvester Stalone's character in Cobra, Lieutenant Marion Cobretti? A major improvement. Heck, Carmelo Hayes is practically a member of the RAW roster, considering he's gone toe-to-toe with Baron Corbin, Finn Balor, Damian Priest, and Ricochet over the last year.

Speaking with Sports Guys Talk Wrestling to help promote The Great American Bash, “Mr. WrestleMania” revealed that one of the stars he's long wanted to work with is none other than Mustafa Ali, who is currently working a fantastic angle with Wes Lee and Tyler Bate. With TGAB coming to fans at the end of the month, things are gearing up for an incredible match between the two high-flying Superstars.

“Wes Lee, to me, has just been unbelievable as North American champion. On a personal level, I just enjoy that young man so much. But everything that he's kind of overcome here in NXT over the last year and a half has just been phenomenal. He's been a great champion for us,” Shawn Michaels said via Wrestling News.

“When we had the opportunity to get Mustafa Ali, I've always been a big fan of his. It's something that from a very quiet standpoint, I would see him here and there on the main roster and every once in a while, I would just reach out and ask like, ‘Gosh, if he's not doing anything, if you guys aren't doing something with him, I'd love to have him down here.' It never quite worked out for us until just as of late, and I'm telling you what. He's a guy that I in my opinion, we've just seen the tip of the iceberg with him and we plan on cutting him loose and unleashing him here in NXT to really work and live out his potential here on the NXT brand as we go into the future.”

After failing to latch on as a member of the main roster, with his run with Retribution an absolute flop and his angles since few and far between, sending Ali back to NXT always felt like a solid idea, as he's an incredibly effective cruiserweight who can put on highlight matches on any card for any promotion in the world. With his contract reportedly set to expire in the middle of 2024, maybe the WWE Universe will get a few more #MustafaMoments before he leaves for the greener pastures of AEW or Impact.

Shawn Michaels is excited to bring the main roster to Orlando.

Elsewhere in his conversation with Sports Guys Talk Wrestling, Shawn Michaels discusses how important it is for consistent improvement in the WWE Universe and how the infusion of talent from NXT UK and from the main roster has been an incredible asset for the developmental Superstars.

“I will say this. All of us in this business, we all got better because we were in the ring, especially when we first started out, with people that were better than us. Now we're very fortunate to have other men and women that have come from NXT UK and some that have been out there on the independent scene that have been doing it for a little longer. That also obviously helped our young athletes that come through here from college, but at the same time, those people, when again, when a main roster person comes down, that's now seeds of knowledge for them as well. It's great to be out there getting reps, but a lot of times if you're out there with somebody who needs as many reps as you do, you're still learning, but you're not going to learn at the rate as you are if you're out there with a Finn Balor,” Michaels said.

“That's been huge for us. You think about Bron Breakker being out there with Seth Rollins. For me, like when I was out there very early on out there with Flair, you take in so much. It's like getting a PhD in one night. So again, it's a huge help for us here in NXT to have that synergy now with the main roster. We would love to be able to have it more often, but you know, obviously, we have it here and there. They're all so busy. We understand that. The great thing is they are so giving when they come down here, not just in the ring, but also just hanging out with the talent and dropping seeds of knowledge, whether it's out there physically or back here psychologically and mentally.”

NXT is weird; it's the name of a promotion that runs a weekly show on Tuesday nights and also the developmental arm of WWE, where storylines can become secondary to building the next generation of stars. If HBK can find a way to keep his show interesting with engaging storylines while also getting his stars valuable reps and the knowledge they can bring from the main roster talent, then he can really have his cake and eat it too.