This was wonderful beyond even heightened expectations.
For the first time in a long time, Royal Rumble tropes were well observed - justifying their very reason for being tropes in the first place. Iron Man Finn Bálor gutted his way through 57:38 gruelling minutes (suggesting why he has those abs instead of a gut...) to pair up with fellow long-stayer Shinsuke Nakamura for a clash-of-ages closing showdown with Roman Reigns and John Cena.
Elsewhere in the layered bout, Heath Slater's failure to even make it to the ring made for some great early-match comedy and even paid itself off when the 'One Man Band' managed to surprise Sheamus with an elimination, whilst Kofi Kingston used the power of pancakes as well as positivity to pull off his annual escape.
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
