6 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Dec 3)
5. Refusing To Be Punked
WWE
Seth Rollins was in fairly affable form throughout an interview in which he spoke frankly about his challenging year atop Monday Night Raw, but Renee Young elected to get straight to the hottest topic as soon as the 'Beastslayer' took his seat.
Addressing lingering assides made by both Rollins and Backstage part-time host CM Punk towards one another, Rollins had little to add beyond noting Punk empty-chairing this week's episode.
"I'm here, he's not here...I'm not shocked about that" was exactly as confrontational as it needed to be without having the whole scene descend into pro wrestling farce and for a change, Rollins got things bang right. It was a tasty and teasing spat temporarily dealt with, but one not entirely diffused - something Seth's struggled with on Twitter at various points this year.
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
