Shawn Michaels has explained why NXT Champion Bron Breakker doesn’t use the Steiner name on WWE TV.
Breakker, real name Bronson Reichsteiner, is the son of Rick Steiner and nephew of Scott Steiner, so it would have made a lot of sense to many to call the 25-year-old Steiner to continue the legacy.
Shawn Michaels, speaking to comicbook.com, explained the logic behind giving Bron a new name, noting:
“I think Bron is going to be incredibly successful no matter what you want to call him.
“He’s a very bright, talented, unbelievably wonderful young man. I’ll say this, I think now he’s established Bron Breakker pretty darn well. Let’s put it this way — what we wanted to make sure that we did in NXT is not run from it or pretend like it wasn’t there. And I think that’s what has helped him, I think, made that transition into a new name and character a bit easier.”
Talking about the importance of establishing Bron Breakker as his own entity, whilst still paying respect to the legacy of the Steiners in wrestling, Shawn explained:
“We didn’t pretend like it wasn’t there and he wasn’t a Steiner by bringing his father out and making reference to who he was and where he came from. I think that’s made it a little bit easier.”
Reflecting on WWE’s methodology of creating its own brands for its wrestlers, Michaels praised a system that has been around for a very long time:
“WWE has their way of wanting to do things. It’s been pretty darn successful for the last 40 years, 40 or 50 years. I don’t know that if something isn’t broke that you need to fix it.”
At NXT Halloween Havoc, Breakker defended his NXT Title against Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh in a three-way bout.
