When Danny Burch babyfaced himself in a UK Championship Tournament battle with Jordan Devlin back in January 2017, he seemed a pristine fit for whatever version of a UK brand the company had in mind. Thankfully, his time spent in actual NXT whilst WWE hithered and dithered on this version has only enhanced his appeal.
Burch was everything opponent Sam Gradwell was pretending to be here. Poor Sam is just another under-wrought and unconvincing tough guy, but Burch has already effectively presented himself as the real deal alongside fellow hard-nut Oney Lorcan in Orlando.
More than just a tan added to his glow here - Burch looked and acted a level above Gradwell and lots of the of the other dorks on the brand. He was right to punch up towards Pete Dunne in his post-match promo, and their battle (booked for a fortnight's time) seems certain be the highlight of that particular episode.
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
