9 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (29 Nov)
Downs...
5. Dogged By The Material
WWE.com
The weakest Survivor Series post-mortem came from Roman Reigns as SmackDown locker room leader kicking off this week's edition of the blue brand, but spare a thought for 'The Big Dog's content requirements.
Not only did he have to yammer on about Thanksgiving (as did everybody else on the show, for that matter) but Reigns also had his ongoing issue with Baron Corbin to reheat. Reference to 'The Lone Wolf' and their intra-match issues at Sunday's pay-per-view, the main roster's King had no patience for being called a "dummy" five times.
Alas no, Corbin brought yet more of his dog sh*t to the dinner table, providing yet more foreshadowing of a canine-themed contest at Tables, Ladders and Chairs. This was a howler as usual - Baron had more bark than bite and teed Roman up for a clash with Bobby Roode instead. But, pleasingly, more on that later.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
