5 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (May 18)

3. Black Saturday

Vince Russo
GWN Wrestling

Not f*cking blacking up, that's for sure!

Canadian independent outfit Great North Wrestling earned the attention of the wider wrestling audience this week after word spread of headline act Hannibal 'The Death Dealer' electing to imitate the greatest mistake one of his countrymen ever made in an effort to throw fuel on a planned May 12 collision with legendary 1980s WWE hardman Haku.

The 'Death Dealer' may have killed his own career with such an ill-advised stunt, though the minor wave of publicity he received was in keeping with his bizarre wrestling resumé. A perusal through his own YouTube channel as well as associated videos paint the picture of a wrestling nearly-man, particularly irked with his exclusion considering the growth and expansion of the industry in terms of talent acquisition in the last five years. Though prefaced as 'entertainment', a rather regrettable 2012 vlog on the same channel captures him outside a WWE show he'd ultimately lose entry to thanks to raising the ire of arena security whilst thrusting his camera and flyers in the faces of the poor souls that turned up to the arena several hours before bell-time.

He perhaps shouldn't have painted his own face so problematically, despite the marginal growth in clicks he may receive over the next few weeks. And in a rather pathetic coda to the ill-advised move, Haku didn't even work the show. A late re-arrangement allegedly wasn't due to the troubling make-up job - though if rumours of the Polynesian's legendary bar-fighting ability are to be believed, Hannibal can count himself very fortunate indeed.

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