Other than those oddballs online that have been so browbeaten by capitalism that they eat platefuls off sh*t and consider it ice cream, nobody was pining for the return of The ThunderDome and/or pandemic-era wrestling in general.
Yet, is it at all possible that Roman Reigns was at his best in that incredibly strange atmosphere?
‘The Tribal Chief’ at very least gets booed rather than cheered most of the time, but the long promos and formulaic matches are increasingly generating that dreaded “methodical pace” call from announcers trying to explain away “the hush” that routinely falls over crowds.
WWE don’t seem to have a babyface in the offing that they’ll ever feel is the right guy to go over ‘The Guy’, but a future problem is a now one too. After a minor reload when fans first returned, the act is flagging, badly, no matter how awesomely it’s performed.
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
