7 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Oct 15)
6. Paige HERE
WWE
The oddest thing about Paige making a terrifying meme of herself during the relentless WWE promotion of her film in 2018 was just how inauthentic and wooden the moment felt compared to how good she ordinarily is in these exact situations.
Put that down to nerves or possible dread over the end of her career, but 2019 Paige remains a vibrant and vital presence on a WWE product that is evidenced to be losing young people by the week.
Your crusty old writer might not get all the references, but nor should I. And the ones that were demographic-friendly were insightful and beyond the usual WWE bubble. Raving about the importance of Bayley's "heel turn" and forcibly ensuring that The Kabuki Warriors were actually taken seriously, the former Divas and NXT Women's Champion looked after her own far more than the main roster usually would.
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
