7 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Oct 15)
Ups...
7. Wild & Young
WWE
What a thrill it was to see Renee Young back in her element as an eloquent, effusive and enthusiastic host rather than in a prior miscast position at the Monday Night Raw announce booth. Announcers are no different to wrestlers in this regard - without making the best use of all the talents’ actual talents, the company risks ruining what they’re actually good at. Young is really, really good at this.
Her move to the red brand was made in good spirit (and good taste - Jonathan Coachman was abysmal in the role) but as the closing segment highlighted, she’s already only too keen to address and humour her failings in the position. It almost certainly came from increased confidence built up over a broadly enjoyable hour here.
A significant and valuable asset as long as WWE want to produce shows such as this (and around 35 years of precedent suggests they do), Young was the glue holding an at-times wobbly format together. As with Talking Smack, Unfiltered and other projects she’s been entrusted with over the years, it’s likely she’ll only improve further upon easing into the role. Or in this case, back in to it.
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
