5 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Jan 7)
Ups...
5. This Is The News...
WWE
Is Backstage's cod-analysis actually...getting good?
This week's product round-up featured Paige having a pop at Shorty G's awful gear as well as the relentless pushing of Seth Rollins' 'Monday Night Messiah' nickname on this week's flagship. Renee Young and Booker T were openly critical about the sheer amount of nicknames he's attempted to get over since first leaving The Shield, whilst the panel barely masked their minor disappointment with the reveal of The Big Show at Raw's end.
This section of the show was always going to be the trickiest to keep credible in the micromanaged world of WWE, but the crew continue to take baby steps.
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
