CM Punk and Chris Jericho's laboured WWE Championship clash was anything but a fast show, but a feud driven by their claims of being the very "Best" was admirable until the match proved that neither of them were truly deserving of the title.
Silencing the stadium, the pair lost the crowd early and never won them back - a problem not exclusive to this clash in particular but a growing concern for others that ordinarily knew how to blow roofs from venues that actually had them. Jericho had experienced this particular issue once before against Edge, but Punk had fought for a spot of this stature using his battles with Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton as bargaining chips.
This, to say the least, was an enormous backwards step.
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
