12 Ups And 16 Downs For WWE In 2018

Brock, Ronda, Braun and The Man. How did they all shake out?

Ronda Rousey
WWE

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

As we put a cap on 2018 and move into 2019, it’s a good opportunity to look back at a very uneven year for WWE. While boasting a ridiculously talented roster in a year in which women’s wrestling took huge strides as a main attraction, we also saw maddening booking decisions that enraged fans and drove ratings to their lowest levels in company history.

Many of those decisions were beyond head-scratchers – they were outright “are they just that stupid?” moments. WWE did itself no favors at various times, proving that the juggernaut company can be its own worst enemy.

Whether it was addressing its falling ratings by bringing all the McMahons to bear onscreen, making baffling world championship decisions, or carrying forward with an ill-conceived show that generated a plethora of negative mainstream coverage, WWE had its share of missteps.

But the company also did some things right in 2018, whether it was the world of women’s wrestling getting a huge boost, the return of one of WWE’s most popular wrestlers of the past decade, or huge years from another returning star and a long-reigning champ.

With all that said, let’s find out what rose and what fell during 2018. Let’s get to it…

(P.S. - don't forget to also check out our prior Ups & Downs 2018 article from WhatCulture's Michael Hamflett HERE)

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.