4 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 31)
2. Masking The Problems
WWE
If giving Baron Corbin the United States title and clean wins over Tye Dillinger and AJ Styles wasn't to actually reverse the rot that set in during his feud with John Cena, why did WWE even bother?
His recent feud with Sin Cara has mirrored his rancid 2016 bullying-the-luchador story with Kalisto. That feud concluded with a chairs match, whereas this lifeless rivalry seems destined for the back seat.
When WWE announced that 'The Lone Wolf' would take on The Miz in the battle of secondary champions at Survivor Series, the audience at large recoiled in horror at the potential disaster that lay in wait. Many felt, with some regret, that the 'A-Lister' may be dethroned in order to furnish a new clash at the event, but might WWE be thinking the opposite?
That's the only possible justification for Corbin coming nowhere near conclusively battering Cara after weeks of these tepid tussles. A battle between them that actually ends in the ring looked nailed on as a Corbin squash, but his recent difficulties with the former 'Lucha Dragon' have already made his Survivor Series encounter look something of a Mizmatch. Even in eventual victory, he's yet again the loser.
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.
