Vince McMahon and Bret Hart had gotten their banter match all wrong at WrestleMania 26, but it had at least ensured that Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler couldn't possibly make the same mistake. The company even seemed wise to it, installing Stone Cold Steve Austin as guest referee and Jack Swagger as warm-body-for-hire to take one of probably several Stone Cold Stunners.
Alas.
Mirroring the silence that greeted Grandmasta Sexay's awkward return during the programme, the fans grew tired with a match that astonishingly went 13:45, particularly when Michael Cole managed to actually get some offence in and later win the actual match!
The feud had been a fiendishly guilty pleasure going in - the eventual encounter was a catastrophic disappointment.
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
