A bizarrely-balanced legends spot on a show already suffering bloat, a Mick Foley/Shawn Michaels/Steve Austin run-in was a brief boy-popper but played poorly during and after the self-serving silliness.
Taking out the heels first, Foley, Michaels and Austin celebrated with The New Day until the 'Rattlesnake' couldn't help himself and dropped Xavier Woods with the Stone Cold Stunner. All in good fun, but with echoes of WWE's fascination with old timers getting one last shot in on a generation that really should have stepped away from such sh*t.
Even more tragic was just how good Shawn Michaels looked back in the gear for one night only - his divisive return several years later did much to quash a nostalgic longing enhanced by this chiseled and cut cameo.
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
