5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown Live! In Newcastle (May 17)

Ups...

5. No Cameras, No Problem

As always with house shows, many of the company's performers were in fine and fun form thanks to the relatively unvarnished nature of the event. Often the highlight of catching the talent getting to iron out kinks or simply veer from the ultra-tight nature of a Raw or SmackDown Live! taping, the atmosphere never fails to be joyous

The New Day, as expected, were a f*cking riot doing nothing at all. Inch-perfect as the opening act in front of a red hot crowd, their schtick went down a storm as did the lashings of gyrations and machinations as opponents The Usos and Bludgeon Brothers subsequently made their entrances.

Several babyfaces gobbled ample time with ringsiders - always particularly pleasing when children get such a close-up experience of their television favourites. Looking just as excited as those young fans, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson bombing out to the ring like contemporary Bushwhackers to make the save for AJ Styles as he suffered the wrath of The Bar and Shinsuke Nakamura was a genuine highlight. Rarely afforded the opportunity to take such a high profile spot, their enthusiasm was infectious and a infused the second headliner with welcome comedy and heat.

Advertisement
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