Steve Keirn Speaks On Leaving WWE & Why He Didn't Want to Run NXT

Steve Keirn joined the Two man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast where he touched on an array of topics regarding then FCW now NXT, his imprint on today's stars and why he left the WWE. 

Keirn on the rebranding of NXT:

"You never really know how certain things happen. You are only limited to so much information but what my belief was is they saw what we had done (not see the beginning) and they saw after it had been a five year build up. I think they saw that this could be bigger if they begin to back it and dump money into it. I think Triple H had a vision after visiting a professional football camp. But he envisioned more of the WWE having something like that than the old style territory. The change of command in the WWE went from John Laurinaitis in the Talent Relations area over to more Triple H and when you change coaches, you change teams also. When it came down to me they asked what did I want to do and they were very courteous and very respectful to me (which I appreciated). The idea of the transformation from FCW to NXT was to make it bigger and make it more important but that puzzled me because it lost the concept of being new."

His thought's on today's stars:

“My main concern was having them on TV here so they have the option of learning a little bit about TV and having live events. You had to be there, you had to perform in front of audiences that had no idea who they were and that was guys like Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler. They stepped out at flea markets and at High Schools all over the state and with maybe twenty people there. We weren’t allowed to use the WWE logo so I am not only trying to tell people that this is what wrestling is about right now but I am also trying to say that it is not WWE but they are headed that way. It kind of became that it was Steve Keirn’s reputation.”

His reason for leaving the company:

“I started seeing less guys with passion and more guys with different situations and not that there is anything wrong with it, that just makes it harder to teach somebody that doesn’t love it. When it came time for me and I had a contract that went from December to December and when the time went from less years to less years they ended up wanting to make changes and they wanted to cut my pay because I am not doing everything and that is fine, they want me to move to Orlando and I said I can’t do that. I’m in my sixties and live in Tampa and I am Mr. Florida and know the best place to live and Tampa is where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I didn’t want to move eighty miles East into a tourist trap when I need to be in my home more. When the end came I said this is great and I’m glad it is over and now it is time for me to step back and when they said they weren’t renewing my contract I hugged them and said THANKS! I’ve been waiting for the end because I was told one time to not ever quit, make them pay you to the end.”