Well established amongst devotees of the limited WWE UK product up to this point, Mark Andrews and Joe Coffey were selected because they were such safe choices for the historic opening spot. But ultimately perhaps, a little too safe.
The match had the benefit of a red hot and extremely generous crowd and was still guilty of playing to silence on occasion, but it only took a Butlins-style holler to the crowd from either to raise the spirits in this particularly loud new corner of the WWE Universe.
Coffey’s eventual victory with an enormous discuss lariat was almost entirely as a result of brother Mark’s repeated interference as Andrews attempted to peel off another aerial assaults. A distinct lack of greatest hits from his enjoyable arsenal was the clear missing piece for the show's supposedly grand entrance.
A save from further beatings came in the form of a Flash Morgan Webster run-in before either Coffey could cream Andrews further, and though a potential tag payoff doesn't feel overtly grand, the reason for such a thing to exist was at least established later in the show.
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.
