Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose couldn't worry themselves with the internal politics the 'Voice Of The Voiceless' had battled before and after his run as the company's most vital performer. They had pushes to make the most of.
Seth Rollins settled rather gracefully into his role as a corporate sh*thouse and they say that the best characters are just the real ones with the volume but HA HA HA he wasn't the only one. Ambrose was a red hot babyface in his pursuit - a fly in the Authority's soup they'd wrongly assumed wouldn't bother them after the original turn. This was enjoyable enough fare, but an emerging plot with Bray Wyatt revealed just who was really of main event concern in the aftermath. And anyway, why worry about the Soon, when WWE had the Now.
Roman Reigns, with paralysing transparency, was thrust into a spot the louder, older WWE audience members spotted almost immediately. He kept most of The Shield's aesthetic as if to give him an advantage, he was increasingly indestructible, and he was beating Randy Orton pretty f*cking handily by himself. And the promos jfc the promos. Charming, funny and hard as nails?! Don't worry fellas, he's taken! Taken by his wife and kicking a*ss! Will you join the Roman Empire?!
Philadelphia loudly answered that question on behalf of the fanbase in January 2015.
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
