As evidenced by certain supershows away from the 'Grandest Stage', modern-era WWE will do anything for money, and will go almost as far just to generate buzz, numbers and hype. Hoying a kid in the ring to win a title on the biggest show of the year was a moment to be ranked not with stars or in reviews such as these, but by the thousands of likes, shares and retweets images such as the one above generated on their various social media feeds.
To this end, it could broadly be considered a success. But watched out of context, the entire ordeal is an artless, humourless contravention of character development.
Braun Strowman battered The Bar with ease, but the entire match was undermined by the preposterous visual created by poor Nicholas' over-awed expression. There are times and places to do this mad sh*te, but WrestleMania and WWE in general were neither of those things.
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 almost 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 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL 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
