Shawn Michaels appeared to have found his smile as danced down to ringside for main event commentary duties - the placement of him on the pay-per-view in such a role at very least antagonised a newly-turned Bret Hart as he cemented his heel switch.
'HBK' was ordinarily good value on the headset at this point, but the wired 'HBK' was remarkably wound down for the night as he gamely put over both Sycho Sid and The Undertaker stopping only to throw odd jabs at 'The Hitman'.
If it seems harsh marking Shawn's announce stint as a Down, consider the expectations he'd raised at the time. This was months removed from him referring to then-Champion Sid as "luggage" and weeks before he'd drop the explosive "Sunny Days" remark live on a Monday Night Raw.
WWE was suddenly all about the heat, but Shawn - of all people - was staying remarkably cool.
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.
