It was Shawn Michaels - of all people - that once glibly noted during a WWE documentary on the Monday Night Wars that he didn’t recall talent caring too much about the ratings, even when they were in the toilet.
It felt a bit rich coming from a man that was emotionally and physically swallowed whole by WCW’s commercial dominance in 1996, but the overarching point ‘HBK’ presumably attempted to male was that Neilsen numbers couldn’t ever compare to the ones on the payslips at the end of the week. Of course, Michaels was a top guy back then - the two may not have been mutually exclusive if you were working The Goon in the openers back then.
In 2019 though, ratings made a comeback almost as big as WWE’s occasional host CM Punk - and he certainly caught people's attention at the start of 2020 too. This show’s FS1 numbers became almost as intriguing as those from Wednesday nights, and the very fact that they've has become fascinating again is fascinating in itself, and lends a certain heft to even the fluffiest of shows.
And this week’s Backstage (viewer number yet to be released) was high as a kite on f*cking fluff...
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
