The "Dream Match" that became a nightmare programme, Shinsuke Nakamura's failed efforts to claim the WWE Championship from AJ Styles brought the 'King Of Strong Style' to his knees...about a dozen times, to punch him in the d*ck.
Styles' 2018 reign in a...ahem...nutshell, this feud delivered disappointment after disappointment with the perplexing post-WrestleMania direction only marginally more interesting as a result of Nakamura's strange new character trait.
A deathblow to him ever being a WWE topliner, the lack of a banger between them was more disheartening than the constant low blows. AJ entered a year so boringly f*cking passable that there's probably a picture of him getting rattled in the plums next to the word in the dictionary. Little was good, little was bad, and for somebody supposedly 'Phenomenal', this was the biggest problem of all.
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
