WWE weren't remotely phased by the broadly bored response WrestleMania XXVII received, nor did they even have the time. Less than 24 hours after The Rock had cost John Cena the WWE Championship against The Miz, the company were booking the following year's main event in a powerful post-WrestleMania Raw showdown.
It was a bold strategy that fed into an arguably-even-bolder one. 12 long months were to be donated to a bonafide dream match that required no catchy subtitles or chintzy wrestling ones. 'The Champ' wouldn't need a belt, the 'Great One' wouldn't need great matches but the 'Grandest Stage' could remain set all the same.
"Once In A Lifetime" was the only lie WWE needed to tell, though it was so glamorous that they weren't permitted to forget it a year later. The stakes and tension around it when it still appeared for real though? Whew, forget about it.
No, please, forget about it. And don't forget to get your tickets for WrestleMania 29!
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.
