Backstage typically ends with something light, stupid or both, but made better use of guest Becky Lynch this week with an earnest discussion on the current questionable state of women's wrestling within WWE.
Lynch spoke of her desire to do away with "women's" as a qualifier altogether, noting that with all the history made it's time for actual equality across the shows rather than simply being allotted one or two segments per show. She admitted - as if she could possibly deny - that the health of the NXT women's division around Survivor Series weekend was a reminder for how things should be on Raw and SmackDown, but hoped that continued progression could be made to bring the main roster up to snuff.
Punk concurred, commenting on how 'The Man' will now be an inspiration to young girls in stark contrast to how things might have been when women were simply there to be a "piece of *ss".
Your writer could have watched an hour of this talk alone, and it'd be great to see more guests deployed for an even deeper dive in the future.
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 over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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
