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

4. Talking The Talk

Nia Jax
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 for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. 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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.