When Wade Barrett appeared under the tutelage of Chris Jericho during the first season of NXT, his backstory claimed that he was a former bare-knuckle champion. The wrestling business is full of over-elaboration and flat-out fabrication when it comes to the "gimmick" of so many of its performers, and so many presumed this to be the case with Barrett. With Barrett, though, what was said on TV was merely the tip of the iceberg. In his early-20s, Stuart Bennett ended up involved in the very real, brutal world of bare-knuckle boxing. Being rather good at smashing his fist into people's faces, Bennett would up competing at various seedy locations throughout Europe. One particular event took place in Hungary and was dubbed The Battle of Buda. During this, Bennett would win big and take home a reported £20,000 prize purse. Once Dusty Rhodes learnt of this part of Bennett's past, the American Dream suggested that it be incorporated into the Wade Barrett character upon his NXT debut. And thus it did. But whilst bare-knuckle fighting would see Stuart Bennett win big, it also had its downside...
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
