Not all of them have gone badly, but the ones that have have tanked, and the novelty of having certain people back around has worn off so quickly that Triple H has found himself accused of the same pop-chasing problem Tony Khan had during his own 2021/22 hiring spree.
It's fair to say that WWE had thinned out its numbers way too aggressively in sweeping releases between 2020 and this year's post-WrestleMania cuts, but Nick Khan's spreadsheet massaging wasn't just about widening the margins between the nominal losses and enormous gains. The roster was bloated thanks to aggressive warehousing of talent in 2018 and 2019 as New Japan Pro Wrestling and later All Elite Wrestling made clear gains in markets that had been sewn up by a monopoly for nearly two decades.
All of this is to say there's a right and a wrong way to do everything in wrestling, and when even Paul Levesque's booking is making it look like the return of Hit Row was a mistake, it's safe to suggest a little more caution should have been exerted...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 almost 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 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL 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
