10 WWE Stomping Grounds Impulse Reactions

3. Kofi Kingston Vs. Dolph Ziggler

"LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO", screamed Dolph Ziggler at Kofi Kingston, as if the WWE Champion was a member of his stand-up audience being blamed for his move from the 'Grandest Stage' to the one in the corner of a neighbourhood comedy club.

Presumably an improv - don't give up the Second City classes, Dolph - it didn't exactly jive with the rest of the storyline he's thrown himself into this last month. But then, very little of this horrendously boring match did until the absurdly enjoyable finish.

The crowd were woken from their slumber for a few escape attempts late on, but it spoke to just one of the things wrong with yet another disappointing title defence from the man we all shed tears over at WrestleMania.

Kofi Kingston needs a main event level heel willing to put him the f*ck over even more than Rey Mysterio did during his legendarily awful stint with the gold belt bigger than him back in 2006. Mysterio lost all the time then, but results are all separating the two reigns. Competent wrestling won't cut the mustard, especially if it's playing to silence.

Ziggler's no more The Guy than Kevin Owens was last month, just as grabbing holds in cages won't get the babyface cheers. Find a good opponent, book a good match and for f*cks sake do better by The New Day's gutsy Champion.

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