...Or it was, until the former Universal Champion dropped Matt Riddle hard on his head in the exact same manner he'd planted Johnny Gargano two weeks earlier.
The gauge on the Full Sail popometer had been blown clean off by this point, with a frenzy created within Full Sail that had been doubled and trebled and quadrupled over several scintillating minutes. AJ Styles and Bálor shot Bullet Club poses at one another, breaking the internet as they had the sensory pleasure scales of everybody in the NXT arena. Adam Cole hit the ring, not just to claim some fleeting revenge on 'The Phenomenal One' for the Undisputed Era attack earlier in the night, but to drop Tommaso Ciampa with the Last Shot because every f*cker is at WAR, GODDAMN IT.
The show went off the air with Cole and Bálor sharing sinister but uncertain smiles. A cliffhanger of tremendous value, this continued a welcome brand of roster-wide carnage without solving a single thing ahead of Survivor Series weekend. This was pro wrestling bliss.
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
