The silence soundtracking Stone Cold Steve Austin's violence spoke volumes about how meaningless the future 'Rattlesnake' was in WWE at the time, despite matches against Savio Vega often over-delivering, and Austin himself speaking on how the energetic feud got him into the sort of physical condition the company needed from their eventual top star.
Vega - perhaps like a New Generation Randy Orton - was obviously just a wrestler's wrestler. None of the effort expended in the ring travelled out into the stands or through the screen. Austin cheated relentlessly to win but nobody in the audience gave a tiny toss about any of it.
Pay-per-view customers weren't really even asked to. The contest saw cuts to the OJ Simpson's infamous 1994 car chase footage masquerading as a continuation of the Goldust/Roddy Piper Backlot Brawl (more on that later). Vega and Austin were warm bodies for the live crowd, even if the product was ice cold.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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
