Ric Flair doesn't get a live microphone on Raw or SmackDown very often now, with WWE perhaps mindful of some of the wild promos he's been cutting online accidentally escaping onto their carefully curated PG offering...or simply because one of the most electrifying talkers in industry history simply doesn't have his spark.
Like an Alan Partridge ratings graph, this started badly and got worse until we were all left with cheese being smashed into our faces - fans couldn't even hear Flair initially (him not being able to hear their "We Can't Hear You" chant was the sh*tception moment of 2019), and he strolled off message so much that they were probably regretting Kevin Owens swapping the microphones by the end.
What sounded like a noble attempt to put over the product inadvertently buried f*ck out of it - "They give us stuff to talk about, and bullet points...what I wanted to say was, we get a script and we look at it, and we try to cover what's important, but I've found with the product...obviously I'm so thrilled to see my daughter be part of it" was the sort of faint praise WWE often warrants. Flair, kindly, turned to Owens to note "I love what you did Monday by the way", before giving away that he was told to. "I'm hitting the highspots" immediately followed. High spot was right - nothing else of note got mentioned after this incredibly clunky start.
An interruption from The Club set up a surprisingly enjoyable unnancouned match, so that can wait for later in this article. Just ending this wretched opening segment was a mercy kill.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
