9 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Sept 18)
Downs...
5. The More Things Change...
WWE
The discussion on the future of WWE has always been underpinned by the belief that Triple H will miraculously be the change fans have wanted from Vince McMahon for years whenever The Chairman finally shuffles off this mortal coil or somehow elects to give him the reins.
As NXT kicked off a brave new era for the brand, there was an old familiar stink of how this company insists on launching shows - from the top down. When McMahon bought WCW, his one and only Nitro opened with his face. When the daft b*stard launched a football league the first time, he had The Rock start things off with a promo. Even within NXT, 'The Game' has been guilty of this before, but with the black-and-gold brand it's a bigger crime.
The message, subtle as it might be, is that this world only works because big rich tw*ts at the top allow it to be so. This brand, more than any under the umbrella, should feel like a ground-up movement full of revolutionary forces changing the world. It won't happen again, but an egotistical slap in the face wasn't all that welcome.
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
