Turning Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae heel in February and April respectively seemed to reflect a brand completely out of ideas and out of hope. How could the beating heart of the whole brand and one of the most earnest faces in the entire company both be rendered so pointless as heroes that they needed to become villains? And how could they make it work?!
With ease, was the answer to the latter. And with immense gratitude, the former.
Freewheeling as faces without the only main roster jump they'd have already made in the pre-Wednesday Night War world, The Garganos battled through some shocking early vignettes to play delightfully deluded braggarts who love the sh*t out of each other, themselves, and NXT gold. LeRae hasn't yet managed to snatch a title, but it's not been for the want of trying as she continues to be one of the crown jewels of the company's best division.
Gargano, meanwhile, went from strength to strength as a dumb-cracking heel. Able to show a sh*tload of personality he'd had to hide under his old earnest veneer, he's been the weekly highlight of a show that's been trying to fix itself over the past several months. He was the heart after all, but now when it beats we p*ss ourselves laughing instead.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 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 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast.
He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and 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. 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.
