9 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Backstage (Feb 11)
Downs...
3. Big Bite Feel
WWE
Booker T flashed back to Gangrel before Paige tried to save it with a comparison to Mike Tyson, but the former NXT Women's Champion could last much longer earnestly defending it before relying on the usual "people are talking about it" defense strategy.
CM Punk was pragmatic in his assessment, noting that "there's no such thing as bad publicity...but she's a bad*ss and she doesn't need it" which actually felt like 'The Voice Of The Voiceless' remaining on best behaviour in the opening link.
WWE have gotten all their engagement from the hugely divisive angle, and to his credit, Booker closed the conversation with a reasoned "wait and see" stance. Lemonade from lemons from the Backstage lot then, but how can any Raw before WrestleMania possibly come close to this angle for better or worse?
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
