7 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Nov 19)

"Look in my eyes, what do you see? A Backstage Personality."

by Michael Hamflett
CM Punk
WWE

CM Punk CM Punk CM Punk CM Punk. Get what you came for?

WWE will hope viewers did - the ratings for the first episode proper of the largely enjoyable Backstage were so wretched that the emergency glass they broke required a hammer bigger than Triple H's - the 'Straight Edge Superstar' is back on the fringes of an organisation he grew to despise. It's wild.

But 'The Voice Of The Voiceless' lending his...voice to this new WWE/Fox co-production wasn't greeted with unanimous excitement. Far from it in fact - in the five years since he angrily jumped off the juggernaut, many fans have tied themselves in knots fantasy booking his eventual return, set to the chats that haven't ever left since he did in 2014. '"Analyst on shoulder programming" hadn't filled many Reddit threads.

Neither WWE nor Fox will give a toss at the moment. He was the draw for this week's edition of Backstage as much as he was the lightning rod for online attention last week. His first wrestling-related tweet baited Tony Khan and resulted in the AEW owner having a hilarious Twitter war with Randy Orton. He'd godfathered that in just 280 characters. What drama could he cause with the rotating cast WWE calls a roster?

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Contributor
Contributor

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