On Monday Night Raw, Triple H glared coldly into the camera lens and offered the entire WWE roster out for a fight. Or in, more specifically. Promising that the doors to Full Sail would be open for any invaders, this was a kayfabe call-to-arms and a real-life ratings grab. Of all the weeks, this was the time for both.
NXT took a heavy loss last week as AEW took all the buzz and generated their first ever ratings increase since the Wednesday Night War began. Their 957,000 count posted against NXT's 750,000 looked rough on the black-and-gold brand after another strong showing from the former developmental brand, but they were significantly hampered by a main roster lead-in as poor as any this year. The taped SmackDown and Raw episodes from Manchester were amongst the worst all year - 'The Game' wasn't willing to have that mistake made again.
With a blinding Tag Team match promised between The Undisputed Era and The Revival as well as the Adam Cole/Dominik Dijakovic ladder match also announced, it was set to be another huge week on WWE's hottest show. With two pay-per-views upcoming for the bulk of the roster, what droplets of blood and sweat were still to be spilled from the last of the brand warfare?
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years.
As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast.
He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.
