It can't be understated how much of a disaster this whole scene was, even if one can be generous about the shock factor of 'Double J' arriving 24 hours after working his infamous No Mercy Intercontinental Championship match.
Russo was always obsessed with reality equalling ratings, but he so often leaned on the "this is real...those other segments are the fake ones" mentality that it undermined the attempts at supposed sincerity. Was the balsa wood guitar real? Bagwell sold it like it was, even though it looked faker than most of La Parka's offence.
This was an objectively poor show without this bullsh*t anyway. Show-long angles featuring Sid deploying Lawyers to stop Goldberg, the drunken Outsiders p*ssing about for no purpose in particular, and Ric and David Flair not knowing their elbows from their a*seholes doubled down on the cr*p product fans had already abandoned in droves. The aforementioned Hart/Sting title stuff was 50/50ed by the end of then night by virtue of allies Goldberg and Lex Luger doing battle in the main event. People walked backstage in between segments. F*ck me did people walk a lot.
So too did yet more fans. This thing was doomed, bro.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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
