Shawn Michaels Was "Surprised" By THIS Recent WWE Release

WWE legend Shawn Michaels says recently-released backstage interviewer/host McKenzie Mitchell "is always going to be a part of the NXT family". HBK has also admitted he was slightly shocked to see Mitchell get cut loose by the company.

Shawn didn't see that one coming at all.

Michaels told the media during a recent conference call to promote NXT's upcoming Deadline special that McKenzie departing WWE is "a loss" to NXT. He then went on to say this: "There are a lot of things that go on in this company that are way above me, and this was obviously one of them".

In short, Shawn had no control over whether or not Mitchell stayed put as an interviewer and host. He did add that "everyone absolutely loves and adores McKenzie", and said he's grateful for all of her hard work under his watch on the NXT brand.

It was a classy tribute to Mitchell from a bonafide Hall Of Famer. Michaels then revealed that "the door is always open" for a potential return down the road. That's something he'd like to see, because HBK really enjoyed working with McKenzie.