The one-night return of the Demon gimmick at SummerSlam was one of the few points in 2018 he’s felt like the megastar the company obviously believed he was before his injury at the show two years earlier. A nothing match with Baron Corbin was elevated to semi-main status by the unannounced reveal of his alter-ego, but suggesting the support for Balor is only located at the centre of his dark inner self undercuts a well established relationship with the audience.
WWE have laughably lumbered him with a nuisance of a nickname here, but the ‘Extraordinary Man That Can Do Extraordinary Things’ does have a superlative set of skills in his locker. He was even better than extraordinary in the Royal Rumble match this year, using his main event setback as motivation in a stirring 57-minute stint in the match.
He lost in the end, but yet again showed the potential to still be considered a winner with very little more than his own remarkable talent.
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 almost 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 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL 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
