There was a sense of importance inserted into both December 18th broadcasts either side of the Wednesday Night War this week, with NXT unprepared to bring a spoon to a knife fight.
With the aforementioned Shayna Baszler/Rhea Ripley blockbuster already arranged, William Regal also confirmed that Keith Lee, Finn Bálor and Tommaso Ciampa would face off next week to decide a contender for that show too.
Assuming the show wraps other high end stuff around it, the last live show of 2019 stands to be much the same as the first head-to-head episode on USA. With possibilities endless and excitement ramping up, it was generally encouraging to see the black-and-gold brand try to reframe the typical take that all wrestling goes to sleep at this time of year.
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
