To be even clearer: it sounds like there was never any clear documentation directly linking "William Shakespeare, the guy from Stratford-upon-Avon" and "William Shakespeare, actor and playwright," and this opened up a window for speculation (by well known people and others) that these were actually different people. Heather Wolfe found the needed documentation in an old court case, proving that Shakespeare is actually Shakespeare:

> It’s at this point in the story that Wolfe discovered “the smoking gun”. In the Brooke-Dethick feud, it becomes clear that “Shakespeare, Gent. from Stratford” and “Shakespeare the Player” are the same man. In other words, “the man from Stratford” is indeed the playwright. Crucially, in the long-running “authorship” debate, this has been a fiercely contested point. But Wolfe’s research nails any lingering ambiguity in which the Shakespeare deniers can take refuge.

> Heather Wolfe found the needed documentation in an old court case, proving that Shakespeare is actually Shakespeare.

This is what I sorta inferred from the article. The author says there was a smoking gun but I didn't see where it went off.

What did Wolfe's research uncover? A previously overlooked court document hidden in the archives of the Folger Library in Washington DC?

The article describes all that, but it never says what is new. If you Google "brooke dethick" you'll find that the argument about coats of arms has appeared in lots of previous work about Shakespeare. The other details are even less obscure.