The frequently maligned AEW Women's Championship was on the line in a contest which wasn't particularly good, was only really heated in all the worst ways, and fed into a development with confusing consequences that will make for a "Down" one click from here.
Knowingly daft but in weirdly charmless fashion, Soho attempted to pile cheating on top of cheating in order to dethrone the three-time champion, allowing Shida to look smarter when she outfought and outthought the challenger with a turnabout-is-fair-play finish using the turnbuckle. The Eddie Guerrero tribute spots are becoming the most overplayed in all of wrestling, and it's painfully evident when the building no longer comes unglued.
They didn't, and Shida is yet again making the best of a bad situation rather than holding gold while the division's on fire. She's due to fight the division's hottest star at Full Gear, but about that...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
