NXT UK finally launched proper this week, after all sorts of false starts and dawns since the company held a tournament to crown the first ever WWE UK Heavyweight Champion 22 months ago.
Finally there was something for Pete Dunne to do with the bloody thing. He took the belt from Tyler Bate at NXT TakeOver: Chicago in June 2017 in a match that can finally be vindicated for more than just being a superlative one-off.
Finally WWE can shake off the stigma that they're only bothering with the project to stub a tab in the eye of World Of Sport wrestling after that finally aired and finally - regrettably - confirmed fears that it wouldn't have the legs to be sustainable for the long haul.
And finally, here ends further mention of that loaded word for the remainder of this introduction. Any echoes of The Rock (or any bonafide wrestling megastars, for that matter) are better quashed. Comparing 'The Great One' and some of the only-okay-ones on this show smacks of Bobby Heenan's "Ice Cream and Horse Manure" take rather than Triple H's previous promos about them all changing the wrestling world.
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.
