A match with hefty potential lived up to none of it, as WWE's counter-productive booking of everybody not named John Cena piled insult on to Miz' frightening early injury.
The concussed 'A-Lister' got a starry-eyed surprise when The Rock interjected himself following a weak double countout finish. That alone was designed purely to allow 'The Great One's interruption (and subsequent interference), primarily because John Cena losing meant substantially more than Miz winning.
The Champion had just enough about him to steal the win, but still had to suffer the indignity of a Rock Bottom in order to send the audience home happy. Rock kept all of the supposed heat for himself too, rather than supplanting some upon a lukewarm titleholder in need. And there was rather a lot of that...
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
