The Hardcore Title triple threat match that opened WrestleMania XV offered the first problem with Vince Russo's scattergun booking taking over the biggest pay-per-view of the year.
The contest itself was a little on the silly side thanks to the some of the cartoonish weapon shots, but was dead before it came to life thanks to Billy Gunn's late insertion in place of his New Age Outlaws partner Road Dogg.
This will come up later too, but the Outlaw Hardcore/Intercontinental switch before the 'Show Of Shows' destroyed the chemistry (and storyline reason to be) of two separate matches on the card. Billy Gunn had been feuding over both the Intercontinental Championship and Ryan Shamrock's heart in the weeks leading up to the show - this served only as a destination for 'Mr Ass' to lose a title he didn't even want.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
