Was this week's surprise second hour a case of WWE tacitly acknowledging a logjam?
Just days before the historic Evolution pay-per-view, eagle-eyed fans noticed that the planned pay-per-view battle over the NXT UK Women's Championship was a physical impossibility unless an entire episode was dedicated to clipped highlights of the already-shot tournament or - even worse - WWE simply spoiled the result completely and did away with the footage just to get the match on the show.
A dark match was the eventual compromise. Champion and challenger (who won't be named here in case the tournament and title are given priority in the coming weeks) fought before the cameras rolled in order to allow for the sort-of climactic culmination.
There may be more double-headers if WWE intend on the culmination coming a little quicker. It's perhaps not the worst decision - more was scuppered that just the Evolution match by the delayed airings of so much already-taped footage. And based on this week's efforts, playing catch-up may do far more good for the main players...
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.
