9 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (18 Oct)
1. Short-changed...Again
WWE.com
Chad Gable was instructed to look surprised by his own Titantron as he walked down the aisle, before loudly exclaiming "I like it! I like it!" ahead of his pedestrian affair with Curtis Axel.
Was the messaging clear enough here? This was WWE, through the character himself, b*llocking fans into submission on this gimmick. "HE likes it, so YOU better get the f*ck on board, understand?" could practically be heard coming through the commentators' headsets from Vince McMahon himself.
It was all prep for the post-match promo in which Gable was tasked with completing a name change that's apparently been in the pipeline for yonks. Shorty Gable became Shorty G amidst some hot garbage about empowerment and being yourself and all that other stuff the poor b*stard will now have to try and overcome.
He will too, because he's class...not because of this wretched booking. WWE in spite of itself, millionaires that should be billionaires, etc etc.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. 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 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
