10 WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Impulse Reactions

3. Don't Count Them Out

Titus O Neil
WWE

Now two pay-per-view matches deep into their WWE feud, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura are in danger of becoming the company's biggest disappointment of 2018 unless 'The King Of Strong Style' can wrestle away the WWE Title from the 'Phenomenal One' at Backlash.

Another half-decent match played out to virtual silence in front of crowd both should be capable of captivating. Their 2016 Wrestle Kingdom contest is beginning to look like an outlier, an advert for the performer Nakamura used to be and the as-yet-unfinished Sports Entertainer AJ was shortly about to become.

Divising a non-finish borne of Styles' inherent frustration with Shinsuke's relentless ball-bothering this last month was shrewd, but neither man worked their way up to the 'violence' that unfolded late in the day. 'The Artist' can't keep making a mess of the proverbial blank canvas too - if he doesn't snare a win at Backlash, there's little else left for him to do on the main roster.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 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 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, 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. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett