{"id":15027,"date":"2016-04-02T11:16:05","date_gmt":"2016-04-02T16:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=15027"},"modified":"2016-04-02T11:16:05","modified_gmt":"2016-04-02T16:16:05","slug":"saturdayapril2torchtoday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/04\/02\/saturdayapril2torchtoday\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday 4\/2 Torch Today &#8211; Can Saturday top Friday?, tons of WWE stars video interviews, Cena big WM32 teaser, UFC 197, Taker as not-Taker, Ricochet talks Ospreay, NXT to U.K. updates, Reigns talks Da Bears, Graves interview, Galloway to defend TNA Title overseas, Owens vows ladder match smash, Menounos preps for HOF Red Carpet, Renee Young, Rowan visits sick child, person behind Chikara costumes, Schamberger, Video of the Day &#8211; Ziggler &#038; McCarthy Comedy Central sketch"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4109289659\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><strong>TORCH TODAY &#8211; Saturday, April 2, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Wow. What a start to WrestleMania Weekend on Friday with <strong>Zack Sabre, Jr. <\/strong>vs.<strong> Will Ospreay<\/strong> at EVOLVE 58 and <strong>Shinsuke Nakamura <\/strong>vs.<strong> Sami Zayn<\/strong> and NXT Takeover. Unbelievable five-star and ten-star matches, respectively. It keeps going Saturday with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.morethanmania.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">three WWNLive iPPVs<\/a>, a big NXT TV taping at Axxess, <strong>Jim Ross<\/strong> Live, ROH Supercard, WrestleCon Supershow, and the WWE Hall of Fame. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/eventscenter\/\" target=\"_blank\">Full Saturday Schedule<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/pwpodcasts.com\" target=\"_blank\">At PWPodcasts.com<\/a>: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwpodcasts.com\/2016\/04\/02\/cheap-heat-podcast-pre-wm32-interviews-bray-wyatt-sasha-banks-new-day-samoa-joe-apr-1-2016\/\" target=\"_blank\">Full Recap of the Cheap Heat podcast<\/a> interviewing WWE stars <strong>Bray Wyatt, Sasha Banks, New Day, A.J. Styles, <\/strong>and<strong> Samoa Joe\u00a0<\/strong>on WrestleMania Weekend. Of note, Bray said he\u00a0hopes for a Wyatt Family reset after WrestleMania. Plus, Styles and Joe talked about being part of WWE&#8217;s WrestleMania Weekend for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/mmatorch.com\" target=\"_blank\">At MMATorch.com<\/a>:\u00a0<strong>Jon Jones&#8217;s<\/strong> UFC 197 return fight against <strong>Daniel Cormier<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/mmatorch.com\/2016\/04\/02\/daniel-cormier-reportedly-out-of-ufc-197-main-event-with-jon-jones-due-to-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\">is reportedly off<\/a>, not because of Jones&#8217;s legal issues, but because Cormier was injured training.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Brian Fritz of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC06-VGep7Cv01m4KfwyowVQ\" target=\"_blank\">Between The Ropes<\/a> talked on-camera with <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Vv7OZiRS-5s\" target=\"_blank\">A.J. Styles<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/E0_5EvbCzlo\" target=\"_blank\">Bray Wyatt<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BSqQbwSrNnM\" target=\"_blank\">Samoa Joe<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YP2gztVQg-Q\" target=\"_blank\">Sasha Banks<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ylXZvoDQYmA\" target=\"_blank\">New Day<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/wd-ETBt2-UY\" target=\"_blank\">Apollo Crews<\/a>\u00a0at WrestleMania Media on Friday. Fritz also interviewed <strong>Pete Gas<\/strong> about <strong>Shane McMahon&#8217;s<\/strong> WWE return for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/wwe-news\/4700417-mean-street-posse-wwe-pete-gas-shane-mcmahon-wrestlemania-32-dallas-undertaker-hell-in-a-cell\" target=\"_blank\">Sporting News<\/a>\u00a0and <strong>Ryback<\/strong> about his WWE positioning\u00a0for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.orlandosentinel.com\/sports\/wrestling\/os-q-a-wwe-s-ryback-previews-wrestlemania-32-and-more-20160401-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">Orlando Sentinel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>John Cena<\/strong> teased WrestleMania involvement tomorrow\u00a0in his latest in a series of teasers during WM Season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Very excited about <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WWE<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HallOfFame?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HallOfFame<\/a> tonight. And a HUGE day tomorrow for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWEUniverse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WWEUniverse<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WrestleMania<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWENetwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WWENetwork<\/a> (never say never)<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; John Cena (@JohnCena) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnCena\/status\/716254563544604672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 2, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Ahead of WrestleMania 32 at AT&amp;T Stadium, <strong>The Undertaker<\/strong>\u00a0received a <a href=\"http:\/\/sportsday.dallasnews.com\/dallas-cowboys\/cowboys\/2016\/04\/01\/turns-undertakers-huge-cowboys-fan-check-custom-jersey\" target=\"_blank\">custom Dallas Cowboys jersey<\/a>. Interestingly, the number of the jersey is 33. Also, a photo of Taker holding the jersey shows Taker appearing to sport a swollen left eye.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yep, The Undertaker is a huge Cowboys fan! Good luck at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WrestleMania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WrestleMania<\/a> Sunday! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WrestleMania32?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WrestleMania32<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/p7SPCiWydn\">pic.twitter.com\/p7SPCiWydn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dallascowboys\/status\/715932358378033153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 1, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Ricochet<\/strong> talked up his feud with international star <strong>Will Ospreay<\/strong> ahead of their big EVOLVE 59\u00a0match this afternoon. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.totalwrestlingmagazine.co.uk\/ricochet-has-unfinished-business-with-will-ospreay\/\" target=\"_blank\">Full Interview with Total Wrestling Magazine<\/a>)<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3673716304\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&#8211; TNA Hvt. champion <strong>Drew Galloway<\/strong> is set to defend TNA&#8217;s top title in England later this month. Galloway is scheduled for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bcw-wrestling.com\/news\/2016\/03\/27\/tna-hevyweight-championship-to-be-defended-in-bcw\" target=\"_blank\">British Championship Wrestling&#8217;s<\/a> next big show on April 15. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyrecord.co.uk\/news\/local-news\/tna-wrestling-champion-drew-galloway-7657214#L8gu3eqVOvFUibpV.97\" target=\"_blank\">Daily Record Report<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<strong>NXT&#8217;s<\/strong> return to the U.K. market in June for the Download Festival will be head-to-head with the European Championships. It is possible the\u00a0English football team\u00a0will be playing the same as the NXT shows, creating a potential scheduling conflict. (<a href=\"http:\/\/talksport.com\/wwe\/wwe-nxt-returns-uk-june-will-there-be-another-clash-englands-wayne-rooney-160401190414\" target=\"_blank\">More Details via TalkSport.com<\/a>) (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/wrestling\/wwe-confirms-five-venues-nxt-7674568\" target=\"_blank\">Venues &amp; Dates reported by The Mirror<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; NXT announcer <strong>Corey Graves<\/strong> talked to <a href=\"http:\/\/pittsburgh.cbslocal.com\/2016\/04\/01\/wwe-star-from-pittsburgh-to-attend-wrestlemania\/\" target=\"_blank\">CBS Pittsburgh<\/a> about his post-wrestling role with NXT. Notably, Graves said he was set to be called up to the main roster before his concussion situation ended his in-ring career.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; IC champion <strong>Kevin Owens<\/strong> talked to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/newsbeat\/article\/35950152\/wrestlemania-32-im-just-gonna-smash-everybody-says-kevin-owens\" target=\"_blank\">BBC Radio<\/a> about planning to &#8220;just smash everybody&#8221; in the IC Title ladder match at WrestleMania.\u00a0&#8220;The match itself is a little nerve wracking as there are seven guys, everyone&#8217;s looking to steal the show, everyone&#8217;s looking to make Wrestlemania the big moment for themselves,&#8221; Owens said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Roman Reigns<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.csnchicago.com\/bears\/wwe-superstar-roman-reigns-i-wanted-be-chicago-bear\" target=\"_blank\">talked to CSN Chicago<\/a> about wanting to play for the Chicago Bears NFL team when he was coming out of college.\u00a0&#8220;I actually came up to Chicago and took a trip. I got to meet the head coach Lovie (Smith) at the time and I was sold. I wanted to be a Chicago Bear immediately. But unfortunately it didn&#8217;t work out, but we found the right team,&#8221; Reigns said in a WM32\/Snickers promotional interview.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Maria Menounos<\/strong> released a <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BSqQbwSrNnM\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube video<\/a> showing how she got prepared to host the Red Carpet portion of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony tonight.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Renee Young<\/strong> talked to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewhig.com\/2016\/04\/01\/toronto-native-young-talks-of-her-rise-to-wwe\" target=\"_blank\">Jan Murphy of The Whig<\/a> about her journey to WWE and reuniting with <strong>Mauro Ranallo<\/strong> after their initial run on The Score&#8217;s &#8220;Aftermath&#8221; show.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; WWE star <strong>Erick Rowan<\/strong> visited a terminally-ill 13-year-old boy to invite him to WrestleMania at AT&amp;T Stadium. WWE is arranging for the boy and his family to travel to Mania to lift his spirits during his cancer battle. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fox4news.com\/news\/115134172-story\" target=\"_blank\">Fox 4 Dallas TV Report<\/a>)<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2069003935\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philly.com\/philly\/entertainment\/20160401_The_woman_behind_Chikara_wrestling_s_crazy_costumes.html\" target=\"_blank\">Philly.com<\/a> profiled <strong>Kate Nyx<\/strong>, the costume designer behind many of Chikara&#8217;s wild outfits. Notably, <a href=\"http:\/\/chikarapro.com\/events\/season-16\" target=\"_blank\">Chikara is running two shows in Philadelphia on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Wrestling artist <strong>Rob Schamberger<\/strong> talked to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.craveonline.com\/culture\/971783-interview-one-one-wwe-portrait-artist-rob-schamberger#\/slide\/1\" target=\"_blank\">Crave Online<\/a> about his WrestleMania Axxess paintings, artwork inspiration, and other topics from years of experience painting top wrestling stars.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Video of the Day: <strong>Dolph Ziggler<\/strong> and former WWE writer <strong>Matt McCarthy<\/strong> did a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCUsN5ZwHx2kILm84-jPDeXw\" target=\"_blank\">Comedy Central<\/a> sketch called &#8220;Wrestling Is Real (with Dolph Ziggler). <a href=\"http:\/\/wewatchwrestlingpodcast.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">McCarthy<\/a> wrote the skit and starred with Ziggler.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wrestling Is Real (with Dolph Ziggler)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s0YuFjF27bc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1094249356\"><div id=\"pwtor-2336831111\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>TORCH TODAY &#8211; Saturday, April 2, 2016 &#8211; Wow. What a start to WrestleMania Weekend on Friday with Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Will Ospreay at EVOLVE 58 and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn and NXT <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/04\/02\/saturdayapril2torchtoday\/\" title=\"Saturday 4\/2 Torch Today &#8211; Can Saturday top Friday?, tons of WWE stars video interviews, Cena big WM32 teaser, UFC 197, Taker as not-Taker, Ricochet talks Ospreay, NXT to U.K. updates, Reigns talks Da Bears, Graves interview, Galloway to defend TNA Title overseas, Owens vows ladder match smash, Menounos preps for HOF Red Carpet, Renee Young, Rowan visits sick child, person behind Chikara costumes, Schamberger, Video of the Day &#8211; Ziggler &#038; McCarthy Comedy Central sketch\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[601,133],"class_list":["post-15027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-quicknews","tag-torch-today","tag-wm32"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/JoeTowel_3x2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15027"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15047,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15027\/revisions\/15047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}