7 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Dec 10)
Downs...
4. Seth (The) Phoenix?
WWE
"I'm gonna take the wait-and-see approach" was CM Punk's measured take on Seth Rollins' Raw heel turn, noting that having witnessed Seth working with different groups in the past he wasn't exactly blown away by the shocking new alliance.
A reasonable point made reasonable, but reading between the lines it felt as though the 'Voice Of The Voiceless' was working mainly to diffuse the imagined heat between the two over the last two weeks, perhaps in keeping with Vince McMahon's own view that a payoff between the pair won't be forthcoming.
He pointedly punctuated his take by highlighting that people will start cheering him again as a result. Few know how tricky audiences can be to control in the modern era more so - there was an element of sympathy hidden beneath his typically sardonic outlook.
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
