Chris Jericho and Edge struggled to engage the mammoth stadium crowd during their stilted World Heavyweight Title scrap, which spoke as much to the failed babyface push of the 'Rated-R Superstar' as it did the pair's propensity for proffering major main events at the time.
Edge's Royal Rumble comeback was part of the in-built backstory that destined both for this WrestleMania clash months in advance. Just months earlier, the pair were a newly-established wrestling supergroup created to restore credibility to the Unified Tag Team Titles. But an achilles injury shelved the Challenger, theoretically creating heat for this exact clash.
Sadly, he never managed to find his voice as a face for the feud, despite the drooling exclamations of 'Spear! Spear! Spear!' becoming a weekly annoyance en route to the 'Show Of Shows'. Their pedestrian match played out to virtual silence, and an unexpected, relatively clean defeat for 'The Rated-R Superstar' signalled his upcoming return to the dark side.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but 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 in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. 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 sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
