Jay White and Rush had a perfectly acceptable wrestling match and if there's a better advert for how perfectly acceptable wrestling has not and will not ever be the lone answer to a creatively barren company's problems, your writer is yet to see it.
The LFI are ostensibly babyfaces now, but Rush and White felt like they were working an all-heel match without the competitive chicanery. White nailing a low blow at the first and only opportunity in a contest that robbed the pair of their respective entourages was a nice reminder that 'Switchblade' excels as a tournament villain, but a quarter of an hour of move exchanges didn't exactly generate the energy that allow you to feel earnestly angry at his misdeeds. If anything, it's the sort of thing Rush would have done given the chance, so more fool the recently-returned star for blowing the opportunity.
This wasn't a bad booking for the Continental Classic, but it was one of three of matches on this show that most definitely should have been mid-tournament encounters rather than cold openers.
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
