5 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (May 11)

4. Talking The Talk

Roman Reigns
WWE.com

It's been a strange few weeks for the WWE Women's Division. The entire crew were apparently paid off for being left off a hugely controversial card in Saudi Arabia, with cries that WWE's involvement would eventually drive cultural change pushed back by an ugly forced apology from the country's Sports Authority after roster members appeared in a Backlash commercial.

The dual-brand pay-per-view was intended to right those wrongs in the ring, with two talked-about title matches afforded ample time to tell very different stories. It couldn't have gone worse.

Whilst Carmella and Charlotte dramatically under-delivered on relatively low expectations, Nia Jax not only failed to solidify her Women's Title reign bell-to-bell against Alexa Bliss but was also lumbered with a nonsensical post-match PSA.

In it, she attempted to close the loop on the angle with her former best friend (as well as a prejudicial stance against her own gender from the company's Saudi sugar daddies), before literally namedropping WWE's own financially-motivated cause as part of the monologue, then responding to her oppressors with a...threat...of...physical...violence.

"Be a star. And remember, in the end, a bully always get their *ss kicked", she yelled, as Michael Cole neatly wrapped it up by reminding audiences how the company push "tolerance and respect" above all else. The summation felt right out of the mouth of Vince McMahon himself - violence as a response to violence, all under the banner of a company marketing campaign.

Contributor
Contributor

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