4 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Talking Smack (Jan 10)

6. Down - Wrestlemania, Only 15 Months Away!

Alexa Bliss
WrestlingNewsSource

The headline story on this week's edition of the show, the announcement of WWE's return to New Orleans for Wrestlemania 34 may be slightly exciting to those expecting to attend the SuperDome in 2018, but for a huge portion of the Talking Smack audience, it's not likely to rank too highly on a list of priorities.

Furthermore, the joyous celebrations of the news from Renee and guest host Shane McMahon seemed to be as much to do with getting to spend their time in 'The Big Easy's dynamic range of bars and restaurants, which again doesn't stir too much excitement from anybody not planning to attend 'The Show of Shows'.

Above all else, it provided that sinking feeling of a typical WWE long-game promotion for the 'Showcase of the Immortals', as the company again looks determined to break its own mythical audience figures and shift as many tickets as possible without having to promote a single match ahead of time.

It's a shame, as if WWE could ever be as focussed on the longterm planning of their storylines as it were events management, maybe an attendance record might one day actually be legitimate.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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