6 Ups & 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (25 Oct)
3. ...And This Is A Failure That Will Never Ever End
The Fiend probably won't even be in the top five most evil people in attendance next Thursday night when he challenges Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship in a match that apparently "can't be stopped for any reason", but his friendlier alter ego Bray Wyatt looked thrilled to be back in a rebuilt Firefly Fun House this week. Much like the shoddy second go at this set, his optimism is probably misplaced.
The message was about as clear as it could be thanks to the instant reincarnation of a dilapidated Rambling Rabbit - Seth can't burn or kill what's clearly already dead, but then he shouldn't have really been allowed to enter was was clearly existential so that's all too little too late.
Tip-toeing dangerously close to the completely f*cked Bray of old, this was another inelegant and inefficient use of a character that hasn't yet returned to the rails after spilling clean off them at Hell In A Cell. WWE might not be able to fix what they've broken here, even if The Fiend brings the red belt to the blue brand after his grand Halloween showdown.
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.