Big Dave was in great form on the show itself. He hadn't had to do his pyro-free entrance like Edge, hadn't been shoehorned into a dance break by Vince McMahon nor was he trotted out like the aforementioned 'Deadman' like an aged afterthought. But if his segment was anything at all, it was a kickoff to a build. And WWE haven't quite yet destroyed that.
'The Show Of Shows' brings out the best in the company ahead of the event itself, despite divisive takes on the supersized shows and the reliance on megastars as the Royal Rumble gives way to the Road to WrestleMania. But on the night, 'The Game' has taken occasional praise for efforts against The Undertaker and Daniel Bryan and flushed it away with overwrought and insecure displays against Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Sting. Overlong, overwrought and over-reliant on banter respectively, all three hugely underperformed on reasoned expectations.
Only Batista's sheer popularity stopped it happening once before. Their WrestleMania 21 main event drew one of the best buyrates in the history of the show, but Hunter's insistence on them going long in the match that night threatened to undermine 'The Animal's intensity. Two more consecutive pay-per-view jobs wiped away that stain, but Triple H has nothing to lose in 2019. Nor a reason to.
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.
