WWE have always known their way around the big man squash formula, so little felt particularly surprising as the company shot the monstrous Dave Mastiff from the feet up as he trudged to the ring for his carefully crafted demolition of Sid Scala.
Mastiff was one of the few poach-jobs from World Of Sport by WWE after he dominated proceedings in their original 2016 pilot. Chosen as a heel mountain for babyface champion Grado to climb, Mastiff maximised his minutes on the terrestrial one-off and slotted into this burgeoning brand with even more subversive skill.
A far cry from some of the technical wizards associated with the top UK matches have promoted so far, Mastiff offered something totally different - and pleasingly short too. He was the best squash wrestler on what was the best squash match on the show by some distance. Firing off a dropkick with grace and immaculate timing, Mastiff used the move as an ingenious reveal that he had more than just physical dominance to offer. His cannonball splash in the corner on the defenceless Scala had all the fire Killian Dane was once permitted to breathe back hen Sanity were still a relevant entity.
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.
