5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 7)
2. Phenomenal
WWE
There's time still to consider the ramifications for Jinder Mahal now he's no longer WWE Champion. But in typically twisted pro wrestling fashion, if Tuesday 7th November was the last evening Mahal ever spent with his precious title, he remarkably...did it proud.
It's easy to give credit to the best wrestler in the entire company for giving useless drone Mahal his best match by a country mile, but the quality of the contest shouldn't be lost to a review lauding AJ for delivering what was his standard fare.
For better or worse, Styles has become a modern day Bret Hart. An artist that has chosen a 20x20 canvas to grace with his work, he's also now a fiercely reliable pair of hands to grip on to the company's primary prize in times of strife. Hart lived and breathed his title reigns, but Vince McMahon always utilised them for entirely different reasons. Casting an eye over the Survivor Series card, he's done exactly the same here. The only hope beyond is that as a gold-holder himself, 'The Phenomenal One' has a better night with 'The Beast' than Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman could.
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
