Cody's storyline infestation of Kenny Omega's Bullet Club stood side-by-side with worked shoot weekly regular YouTube show Being The Elite. Initially just an enjoyable guide to the lives of travelling salesmen Omega and The Young Bucks, 'BTE' evolved into a mix of that spliced with the wider kayfabe antics of the Club. It continued to expand to the extent that an appearance on the show bought performers pedigree amongst loyal money-spending supporters.
The particular audience Being The Elite attracted was crucially important to the foundation and success of ALL IN. The Young Bucks, in particular, were shameless capitalists when it came to selling merchandise through the channel, but positioned themselves as hustlers and chancers instead of company men. They reframed the entire narrative as being something charming rather than cheap, and the perception of their brand grew in stature as a result.
With each babystep the crew made into the modern mainstream so too did a whispered theory that they could scare WWE from the outside rather than attempting to remodel it from within. Enough stars had failed at that anyway, and even in-house NXT projects were being hung out to dry by the main roster. ALL IN was a thing waiting to happen long before it was actually A Thing, but Vince McMahon and WWE never once set out to genuinely counter the movement.
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
