6 Ups & 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (25 Oct)
Downs...
6. Six Of The Worst
WWE.com
This was as WWE a segment as WWE ever WWE'd, so much so that some discussion of it can also be found in the accompanying "Ups" later on in this very article. But for f*cks f*cking sake there was a lot of indefensible piping hot Sports Entertainment garbage going on here.
The scripting between the turn-taking rivals on Team Hogan and Team Flair was, at times, inexcusable. Roman Reigns - a man freed from the pressure of being the top guy (for now) - having a go at King Corbin's bad breath, Shorty G in full Space Jam attire a week early for Halloween banging on about empowerment again when it takes him actually wrestling to remind audiences why it's worth getting behind him, Jimmy Hart buzzing in the background like an immortal fly circling mounds mounds of sh*t.
Credit to those that got some of their stuff over (and more on them later), and credit as always to The Miz for doing that plate spinning thing of his better than maybe anybody in company history. But as opening segments go, when this wasn't morbidly amusing, it was excruciating exposition.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 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 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast.
He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and 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. 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.
