10 Things WWE Are Secretly Telling Fans About Their Future
"You are watching the longest running weekly episodic television show..."
The ethical logistics of Greatest Royal Rumble didn't look high on the agenda when footage leaked ahead of the show of Vince McMahon, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker and several others literally breaking bread with Saudi Arabian higher-ups the night before the bananas broadcast back in April.
Regardless of how things pan out with second controversial sojourn Crown Jewel, WWE have broadly been on message to remind fans that the show - any show, every show - must go on. And on, and on, and on.
Vince McMahon once used to try and fool and delight his audience in equal measure, but he seems to care less and less for either in the modern age. There are greater, financially more fruitful distractions than silliness as trying to book a daft little wrestling show or plot a logical course for more than one full-time character at a time.
His empire is bigger than ever before, and unlike the reshaping forced upon him when an 1980s boom became an early-1990s bust, he's smartly insulated himself and his organisation from ever experiencing such hardships again. That's not to say the future's certain. But nor is it neccesarily all that bright...
10. This Is Where The Power Lies
The current state of the Crown Jewel build-up reflects the cause and effect of the sheer madness of WWE's deal with the Saudi Arabian government, but the fact that the entire deal has been thrown into disrepute just two shows into a ten year agreement highlights how potentially reckless the spend was in the first place.
Ahead of Greatest Royal Rumble, complaints pointed towards the country's human rights disasters. Pointing specifically to a rather large elephant in the room (though an elephant might least have a chance of getting in the building...), critics noted how women wouldn't be permitted to work the show despite WWE themselves aggressively promoting a "revolution" at home.
The relationship was always a gamble less about strategy and more about stratospheric wealth. Television rights deals have mortgaged WWE beyond even the distant future, but Vince McMahon's decision to double down with the Saudi dollars was destined to create the debates now raging over the vast ethical dilemmas.
Money is talking louder than ever. Should Crown Jewel bite the dust, it'll be the second high profile walk-back in 2018 after Fabulous Moolah's name was dropped from the inaugural WrestleMania women's battle royal thanks to sponsor-led pressure. WWE has never made more, nor stood for less.
This contrition sadly isn't extended to the stands...