7 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Dec 17)
Downs...
4. Downs & Ups
WWE
Opening with the panel's weekly review of the product never normally fails because the analysts don't have the time to dwell on whatever's been particularly awful over the last seven days. This week, there was too much to ignore.
Christian remained effusive in his support of Bray Wyatt's character (if not his match with The Miz), whilst Ember Moon expressed enthusiastic shock over Baron Corbin's victory over Roman Reigns without once noting that the contest went about double its natural length. A dire go-home SmackDown and wretched post-PPV Raw were skimmed entirely, presumably for the sake of the show's dignity.
Renee Young at least got a pop in about Wyatt's cartoon mallet, though even that was greeted with universal disagreement.
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
