11. Damian Priest Vs The Miz, WrestleMania Backlash
WWE.com
In 2016, Natalya cut a promo on Monday Night Raw about staying in shape that instantly revealed itself to be product placement spot for Subway.
The branding was visible in the background, before the conversation brought it right to the front anyway. It was also just 30 seconds in the middle of a three hour show, but it felt egregious in the extreme nonetheless.
Nostalgic for "simpler" times of 2016 - that's the impact of this specific sh*tshow. A singles match derived from one of the bigger moments at WrestleMania, The Miz Vs Damian Priest was supposed to conclude a feud that had featured a Bad Bunny Canadian Destroyer at the 'Show Of Shows'. Instead, it was an out-of-nowhere 6:57 commercial for Army Of The Dead, as if all of Raw isn't that most weeks anyway.
This, ironically, would have worked just fine during the boneheaded cinematic nadir of 2020. Presented one year on and after WrestleMania itself had shown that reality was just around the corner, it was yet more sacrificial audience alienation in the chase of some desperate dirty dollars.
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
