AEW set out to achieve a lot - arguably too much - with Jay White’s formal debut for the organisation, but the match was a strong showing for ‘Switchblade’ and teased the possibility of something quite special down the road for the former IWGP Champion and the floundering Ricky Starks.
White’s experience saw him score the win, with Kommander’s hesitation and posturing undermining the stunning aerial artistry elsewhere in the bout. Alongside that, Shawn Spears was ranking the moves to play off his old gimmick and fold himself into Bullet Club Gold’s path for a post match that drew out Starks and drew battle lines for the inevitable tag.
All a little formulaic after the fact, but white was in devilishly great form bell-to-bell. What could have been fluff felt bigger in his hands, and for the first time since he made his big North American decision, ‘The Catalyst’ felt worthy of all the speculation that predicated it.
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
