7 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Oct 15)
5. Promo Class
WWE
Clearly looking to fill the hour and utilise the mammoth Fox rolodex, WWE turned to baseball star Adam Jones for the debut edition of a segment that was enjoyable in spite of itself.
An open and devout WWE fan, Jones' cosplaying turn as Virgil at Extreme Rules 2017 was one of the actual highlights of that shoddy show, with the footage spliced in here to remind/inform any fans of why he'd be an ideal choice for this particular bit.
Jones cut a serviceable promo on a mugging Booker T, to the tune of some upper-mid scores from the other three hosts serving as judges. There was a moment of unintentional hilarity as Christian extolled the virtues of a quieter promo before Booker T broke the knob off the b*llocks amplifier with his riposte.
These won't hit every week, but the good ones will serve WWE's brand well on their new home.
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
