Shawn Michaels Addresses Ava Raine's Development In WWE NXT

Ava Raine made her "WWE NXT" TV debut recently, as she aligned herself with the faction known as Schism — a cult-like group led by Joe Gacy that also features Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid, the tag team formerly known as Grizzled Young Veterans. Raine has yet to compete in the ring in WWE, however, she has trained at the WWE Performance Center for a couple of years. On the media call ahead of "NXT" Deadline this Saturday, December 10, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels discussed his thoughts on Raine's progression with her character onscreen.

"From a character standpoint, she's been a huge kick-in-the-shorts, shall I say, for the Schism," Michaels said. "I think she's doing fantastic. We were just talking about it the other day, just her facials, she looks fantastic, there's, she's really getting comfortable, I think, and that's the most important thing. She's really beginning to, as we say, get into this character, and enjoy the process."

Despite her not even stepping in the ring yet as a competitor, expectations may be high for Raine in the future. Since she is the daughter of 10-time orld champion The Rock, many will have their eyes on her in-ring ability and the amount of success she will achieve. Michaels gave an update on his knowledge of Raine's in-ring future. "From an in-ring standpoint, I, I would have to ask one of the coaches on that," Michaels said. "She's developing and working at an absolute great pace because, you know, I always go back to the 'No news is good news' report." Raine is only 21 years old, which means she still has many years to go to practice and possibly perfect her craft.