Sheamus' punctuated World Title squash of Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXVIII remains one of the most shocking internal character assassination attempts in company history. Not least because it kicked the "movement" WWE didn't realise they'd one day desperately wish to stop.
Fans uttered their incredulous indignation when, after just 18 seconds, Bryan had been defeated. Part of a storyline involving his toxic masculinity and their fractured relationship, the match served merely as a backdrop to their inevitable collapse. In kayfabe, Bryan naturally blamed her for the embarrassment, but the audience were wise to the game.
Tacking on a 'Yes!' chant to virtually every major song or cheer on the night in a show of solidarity with the former champion, the audience made the already-annoying heel mannerism an institutional genre-defining catchphrase. It foreshadowed the next wrestling zeitgeist bubbling under, eventually propelling its proponent to the promised land.
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.
