The Blackpool Combat Club and Kenny Omega shared words rather than actions this week, with May 10th’s Steel Cage Match built up - as it should be - as a point of no return for the warring factions.
In another BCC stairwell in Baltimore, Bryan Danielson was yet again sublime in his indignation about what it is to be really be the best, and a needless shot at Bret Hart seems perfect to fold in FTR, CM Punk(!) or Bryan’s own attempt to win the upcoming Owen Hart Invitational when the company heads to Canada in June. Meanwhile, Moxley made it crystal clear that the beating he was ready to give ‘The Best Bout Machine’ was - in keeping with the group’s psychotic modus operandi - for the entire industry’s gains as well as his own. Moxley spoke in such grandiose terms about his wars with Omega over the last four years that next week’s clash immediately felt like the most important chapter in the company’s true greatest legacy programme.
Maybe it will be.
Omega promised violence on par or beyond what we’ve already seen between the two, but Don Callis talking about the enormous scar left by the group as a daily reminder of the blood that has already been shed was clearly all the motivation the former AEW World Heavyweight Champion needed. Vengeance for everybody (apart from Hangman Page) was promised. The first time he won that belt, Callis was key.
Just how will ‘The Invisible Hand’ factor into next week’s showdown?
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.
