Shawn Michaels Opens Up On Former WWE NXT Talents Debuting At WrestleMania: ‘That’s The Only Reason I Have A Desire To Go’

Published: Apr 13, 2026 by Connel Rumsey | Last Updated: Apr 14, 2026 by Connel Rumsey

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Shawn Michaels Opens Up On Former WWE NXT Talents Debuting At WrestleMania: ‘That’s The Only Reason I Have A Desire To Go’

Shawn Michaels has commented on the feeling of seeing former WWE NXT stars debut at WrestleMania, saying it’s the reason he goes to the event.

This year’s WrestleMania is set to see a number of former NXT talents trained by Shawn Michaels make their debut appearance at the Grandest Stage of Them All, including names like Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Lash Legend and Je’von Evans.

Other NXT names such as Bron Breakker, Tiffany Stratton and Lyra Valkyria debuted on the show last year, and Shawn Michaels has now opened up on seeing NXT 2.0 stars make their WrestleMania debut.

Shawn Michaels Comments On NXT 2.0 Stars Making WrestleMania Debut

Speaking to Adrian Hernandez, Shawn was asked about seeing his former NXT students debut at WrestleMania, with him noting that seeing them make their debut is the only reason he goes to the show now.

He said:

“That’s honestly the only reason, and I mean this in the most positive respect, the only reason I have a desire to go to WrestleManias anymore is to be able to go out and watch them. As you mentioned Lash, Trick, Je’von, Oba, and also speaking in terms of Carmelo, Bron, those are people that are gonna have those opportunities.

“But it is, it’s the reason I go to WrestleMania now, just to have the opportunity to watch them go out and enjoy that moment, because that is the culmination of all the work they put in, and getting to be a part of watching them enjoy that moment is the reason we do it, and it’s an incredibly gratifying thing to watch.”

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NXT 2.0 Names Set To Miss WrestleMania 42

While there are a number of former NXT 2.0 stars set to make their debuts at this year’s WrestleMania event, there are also some former NXT 2.0 names that are set to miss out on the show.

The most notable name that has fans most vocal is Carmelo Hayes, who lost the United States Championship to Sami Zayn on SmackDown three weeks ago, with Sami set to defend against Trick Williams in a singles match at WrestleMania without involvement from Hayes, who really should have a spot on the show after an incredible year.

Another name in a similar boat is Ilja Dragunov, who has not appeared on SmackDown over the past few weeks, and has lacked true direction after losing the United States Championship to Carmelo Hayes back in December.

Both Hayes and Dragunov missed last year’s WrestleMania show, with Dragunov being out of action with an injury while Hayes won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal on SmackDown.

The other two most notable names from NXT 2.0 not featured on this year’s card are Women’s United States Champion Guilia, who is the only singles champion on WWE’s main roster not to be featured on the show, and Tiffany Stratton, who entered WrestleMania last year as WWE Women’s Champion.

The two women faced each other on SmackDown last week, with it being a rather odd decision to leave them off the two night event.