Nakamura Facing Elias Sampson

Shinsuke Nakamura’s first NXT “TV” match was taped earlier today at Axxess. He faced Elias Samson and it will air on Wednesday. It’s also likely that the Elias Samson vs. Apollo Crews match that was bumped from the TakeOver special will air at some point.

“No Way Jose” Levis Valenzuela made his debut at the tapings, as did Tessa Blanchard (daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Tully Blanchard) who faced Alexa Bliss.

John Cena Tweeted praise for TakeOver Dalls:

Such great admiration and #respect for @WWENXT #NXTTakeOver superstars for a #WrestleMania worthy showing! Missed it? Watch on @WWENetwork !

— John Cena (@JohnCena) April 2, 2016

Bret Hart Won’t Be Watching Wrestlemania

Bret Hart shat all over Wrestlemania in an interview with Total Wrestling Magazine:

“I’m just being honest and I have to say that this year’s Wrestlemania card is the worst Wrestlemania card in history. I won’t be watching it, I couldn’t care less about it. The characters mean nothing, the titles mean nothing. I’m embarrassed by it.”

He was also critical of the booking of Roman Reigns:

“I think they have done an awful job of trying to get Roman Reigns over for WrestleMania and quite honestly they made their biggest mistake at this year’s Royal Rumble. They had the right idea by putting him in from the start and stacking the odds against him but they should have had him overcome all the obstacles by fighting bravely against all comers to eventually be the last man standing, but this whole idea where a whole bunch of Triple H’s goons come out, attack him and leave him for dead, having him stretchered out almost crippled only for him to limp out at the end to make a comeback, well we’ve been there, done that.

“At least if he’d been there from the start to the end taking on everyone he could have lost the match at the very end but the fans would have respected him more. What I think they did by having him stretchered out and return having missed the lions’ share of the match killed any good feeling or respect the fans held toward him and he hasn’t been able to recover from that. By taking him out the match the killed any impact he had.

“It seems to be this whole idea of force feeding the fans with him until they’ll eventually enjoy the taste, but it’s not working they keep presenting him the wrong way and it’s a shame because he is a better talent than that.”

Kevin Owens Is Going To ‘Smash’ People

Kevin Owens discussed stealing the show with the BBC:

“I’m just gonna smash everybody. The match itself is a little nerve wracking as there are seven guys, everyone’s looking to steal the show, everyone’s looking to make Wrestlemania the big moment for themselves.”

“The Miz main event was at Wrestlemania but since then people don’t respect him, let’s be honest. And Dolph Zigler he’s been world heavyweight champion but since then he’s had a rough bath, and Stardust and Zach Ryder and all those guys – everybody is so talented but not necessarily had a Wrestlemania moment. Even if you look back at The Miz, he main evented it but people remember The Rock. Sami Zayn is trying to make a name for himself and I’m trying to make sure I hold the Intercontinental title, so it’s nerve-wracking to be in a match with so many guys and have so much to prove, but it’s exciting as well.”

Finkel Celebrates 36 Years

Today I celebrate my 36th anniversary of full-time employment with WWE. It's been a wonderful ride for all these years, and it continues on!

— Howard Finkel (@howardfinkel) April 1, 2016