In the years that followed the understated-but-enjoyable headliner between John Cena and Shawn Michaels, there was the suggestion that 'HBK's post-match glare towards 'The Champ' was far closer to shoot than work.
Much as his DX comrade had in kayfabe a year earlier, Michaels later went on record as saying he thought Cena 'wasn't very good' during his initial stewardship of Monday Night Raw, and he was still guilty of crimes against selling here despite all the time spent by Shawn smashing his leg to pieces.
Crucially, all the tension revolved around who might actually win the match. Shawn's surprise place in the slot resulted in a groundswell of support for him getting one more run with the WWE Title, even though succumbed to the STFU like just about everybody else that year.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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
