Why Shane McMahon Won WWE's World Cup At Crown Jewel
There has to be a good reason, right?
Eight men entered WWE's World Cup at Crown Jewel, including luminaries such as Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins. When the dust eventually settled, one man stood tall clutching the big gold trophy in his hands, proudly pronounced as the supposed best in the world.
Shane McMahon.
That's right: Shane McF**kingMahon.
Yes, during a show that was scarcely believable at the best of times - least of all because it actually happened - an unscheduled 48-year old non-wrestler prevailed in a tournament to name the industry's finest. McMahon replaced an apparently injured Miz in the cup's final, and then proceeded to beat Dolph Ziggler - clean - in just two and a half minutes. You couldn't make it up.
Although apparently you could, as it turns out Shane's victory was planned long in advance. The Miz's 'injury' was entirely bogus; WWE intended for the sometimes SmackDown General Manager to gatecrash the tournament all along.
It's booking bananas. Heck, it's booking pineapples. So you'd imagine WWE had a pretty good reason for it.
One theory posited was that the company recognised the taint any of their regulars would carry should they win a cup so closely associated with controversy, so instead decided to shift the heat on the Teflon Shane McMahon - allowing them to quietly bury the whole affair immediately afterwards.
Good idea, but no: according to Dave Meltzer, speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, the actual plan is to use Shane's victory to propel an ill-conceived heel turn for the only popular McMahon. Which means two terrible things: 1) the company will continue to reference Crown Jewel even after the whole farce has been put to bed and 2) we're going to see a new heel authority figure. And a McMahon at that. Yippee.
Meltzer speculated the storyline is a response to SmackDown's declining ratings, with the promotion apparently viewing McMahon-mania as the only tonic for its ills. The bad news is that it's not 1997.
It could easily be 2017, though. Shane, a man with an ego the size of Alaska, dominated WWE storylines around this time last year heading into Survivor Series, and it's looking depressingly likely to be the case again. Only this time, he's evil. Christ.