WWE: WWE Reportedly Dealing With “Significant” Visa Issues, Shawn Michaels on His Evolution as WWE NXT Mentor, Otis, Akira Tozawa, & Grayson Waller Scheduled For NXT House Shows in June

WWE

Jun 17, 2026

WWE Reportedly Dealing With “Significant” Visa Issues

The Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reported that his sources stated that WWE is currently dealing with “significant” visa-related issues.

No other details were given nor how many or which talents have been affected by this issue.

It is also currently not known how this issue will affect WWE in the coming months due to the company having many overseas events scheduled including this year’s Night of Champions 2026 event on June 27 in Saudi Arabia.

Besides WWE, AEW and Ring of Honor have been dealing with visa issues of late affecting The Beast Mortos and Komander’s availability to work in the United States. TNA Wrestling most recently dealt with visa-issues affecting Ricky Sosa’s availability for their shows in the U.S. as well. Stardom’s Maki Itoh, Yuria Hime, and Fuwa-chan were all pulled from the company’s event during this past April’s WrestleMania 42 weekend in Las Vegas due to similar issues.

WWE had been looking to sign more of their Lucha Libre AAA talents and secure work visas for them in the United States as of this past March.

Shawn Michaels Comments on His Evolution as WWE NXT Mentor

A recent episode of the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast featured WWE SVP of NXT and Talent Relations Shawn Michaels as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Michaels’ thoughts about his initial experience taking over and coaching NXT talents and his evolution as a mentor to WWE’s younger talents to better help their careers in the company.

“I’ll say this, I don’t know if I am a great teacher. That was probably the most challenging thing about it when I came in first as a coach but I was very upfront with everybody, this is kind of my, it’s one thing to teach the basics and then share your experiences. I think what helped me teach was being able to connect with these people on such a personal level, a relationship level.
And I don’t know, I was kind of, in their minds, freshly out, I was still relevant. And I think that’s one of the things that makes a difference. There are times now as the years go on, we always, or at least I joke about it. And because I joke about it, because it’s true. I’ve been there now for 10 years. The athletes now, they’re so used to seeing me. I no longer walk on water.
Now I’m just the guy that kind of yells at the television and every now and then, gets in their face or tries to tell them this or that.
I’m the boss here and there. And it’s not quite the same that the things that I say may not always carry the weight that it once did at the beginning from a coaching level, but it is something that most of them, once they go up to the main roster and now they experience some of those things that I was talking about, that’s when it connects now. So now a lot of the teaching isn’t right there in the moment. It’s a couple months or a year down the road.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

Otis, Akira Tozawa, & Grayson Waller Scheduled For NXT House Shows in June

Tuesday’s WWE NXT show featured the announcement of Alpha Academy’s Otis & Akira Tozawa and Grayson Waller will be making appearances at WWE’s upcoming NXT house show tour this weekend in Kentucky and Indiana.

WWE’s current schedule of NXT house show tour for June: