The trouble with trying to summon emotion where there blatantly isn't any to mine is how obvious it looks to those attempting to invest in it.
For that reason, it's pointless to try and contextualise any sense of tension between the sad squads in this card-filler. By 2004, almost every WrestleMania was designed to be every bit the 'Showcase Of The Immortals' it was marketed as, full of thrills, spills and personal grudges finally settled on the 'Grandest Stage'. This never proves true, but the heavy-handed narrative results in matches outside of that remit looking all the more exposed as a result.
Defending Champions Rob Van Dam and Booker T were too good for this sh*t (as too, broadly speaking, were The Dudley Boyz), but the contest at least gave La Resistance, Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak 7:58 to tell their grandchildren about. Good for them. Dud for us.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
