Sable's Women's Title defence against ex-stalker Tori was a total mess long before the inexperienced Nicole Bass made the jump from Howard Stern's show (via ECW) to destroy the challenger in a lame finish.
The Champion was half out of the door thanks to a monumentally successful Playboy spread that month, and relations with WWE were about to get worse before they got better later that year. The match - already up against it - suffered accordingly.
The entire spectacle foreshadowed the disarray the division was about to be plunged into as result of impending backstage explosions. Sable's rank indifference for the task at hand was all too obvious by this point, regardless of the reactions her call-and-response intro generated even after a heel turn.
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
