Though the show has remarkably rebounded of late to be the lesser of WWE's two main roster evils, the three hour slog remains just that - even when the show has just enough bullsh*t to be classified as entertaining.
The run-time remains the biggest crime against wrestling fans, not least because it made the red brand host to so much of the year's worst angles - everything Retribution (while it was still a thing), Charlotte Flair's rank series' with Lacey Evans, Rhea Ripley, Nia Jax and Nikki A.S.H, Karrion Kross' debut loss to Jeff Hardy, all the inane or idiotic 24/7 Championship stuff, a Charlotte Flair/Becky Lynch/Bianca Belair/Sasha Banks shambles with one of the worst finishes of the year, Karrion Kross' stupid mask, the needless collapse of the good version of The Hurt Business, Vince McMahon's odd new backstage persona, Karrion Kross' entire abysmal main roster run, Keith "Bearcat" Lee, Shane McMahon's s-s-s-s-stupid feud with Braun Strowman and all the Randy Orton/Bray Wyatt did before latter got fired - all Raw, all the g*ddamn time.
The Rock might have recently noted that Nick Khan was a wrestling fan in his youth, but McMahon's new favourite once only half-jokingly noted that he'd add more hours to this show if he could. The Brahma Bullsh*t stinks from here.
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.
