10 Best Things WWE Could Do With The Crown Jewel & Saudi Arabia Money

Or how to clean dirty money without laundering it...

Shawn Michaels
WWE

WWE's working relationship with Saudi Arabia has officially survived the torrent of justified criticism for a human rights violation not just beyond the concerns raised earlier this year, but beyond the pale entirely.

The company waited out update after increasingly-terrifying update on murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and - in spite of seemingly obvious ethical obligation versus a contractual one - have forged ahead all the same in order just to try and get Crown Jewel done and dusted.

A alleged $45million-per-year figure became the blindingly obvious incentive for WWE after Dave Meltzer dropped it into conversation shortly after Greatest Royal Rumble, but the November 2018 pay-per-view is only the second show in a ten year agreement. What was awkwardly apparent as pressure mounted on McMahon & Co to cancel was for the need for the show to go ahead not just for the organisation to receive this wedge but every other one coming their way.

This - and this isn't to tempt fate - is surely the worst scandal likely to hit the country during the duration deal. It's survived this - nine more years of pithy arguments about gender equality won't seem half as tricky to navigate.

But what good, if any, can come of all this? Without a sliver of hope that something positive come from WWE's inordinate and - frankly - ugly weath? SPOILER ALERT: "More Undertaker and Kane matches" wasn't the answer any of us were looking for.

10. Workers

Shawn Michaels
WWE

It's a formery fervent complaint of WWE's talent maintenance that's been allowed to burrow back under the surface over the past few years, but it remains utterly absurd that an organisation that asks as much physically from its 'independent contractors' without giving them the benefits that should be entitled to all employees. And WWE should start with actually making the wrestlers employees.

Yes, it would be perhaps the single biggest business alteration in the history of the company. But then they're doing the single biggest business deals in the history of the company. The money on the table is beyond the 1980s boom, the 1990s rebirth and even the late 1990s stock market floatation. These are fees and figures that could allow Vince McMahon to f*ck the XFL up twice has badly as he did the last time and still be a billionaire afterwards.

A quick check of the company's corporate website reveals a rewards and benefits package in keeping with a global corporate brand WWE's size. The continued resistance to extending these perks towards the talent remains unethical and unwarranted. Never mind some good coming from the Saudi Arabia, this would almost make the event positive and palatable.

Contributor
Contributor

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