A gift to 2019 despite never actually making it on to a Sunday supercard, Rey Mysterio's scintillating SmackDown Live series with Andrade was both a great advert for stem cells and a rare case of really really great wrestling actually being enough.
Their thrilling battles were for little more than recognition and respect, yet stole every show they appeared on. Andrade's marginally better win-loss record over the masked icon served as a small reward for giving his body to the cause as their matches somehow blended silky smooth skill with psychopathic suffering.
Clinging on to lucha libre's rich history whilst chasing 2020 with some eye-popping innovation, the series only lacked an actual issue in the first place. This at least leaves room for revisiting should the company wish to reward such revered work.
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
