10 Most Controversial Wrestling People Of 2018

Any other year, Vince McMahon's decision to voluntarily flush all those FOX dollars down the nearest latrine in order to revive the execrable XFL would have easily topped a list of his barmiest moments. But 2018 was special.

The XFL idiocy completely paled in comparison to McMahon's bullish decision to steam ahead with his Saudi partners once news emerged that the government was very likely responsible for the murder of journalist and political dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

WWE's deal with Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2020 programme was already under scrutiny, having effectively set Vince and co. up as highly-rewarded propaganda producers. The Greatest Royal Rumble confirmed such fears, instantly going down as one of the darkest days in industry history. The company was widely chastised for helping promote a superficially progressive regime with a show which, by official edict, was not permitted to feature any female performers - and which afterwards, forced officials into a retrograde apology over the briefest glimpse of Carmella in a video package.

When the furore surrounding the probable state-sponsored murder of Washington Post journalist Khashoggi broke, it perversely presented McMahon with an opportunity to sever ties with the GSA. The bonanza was a dream - but the brand damage a nightmare. So what did he do?

You guess it: he was typically stubborn, clinging to the soured partnership under the flimsiest pretence of exerting change. If Greatest Royal Rumble had been a dark day, Crown Jewel was a total blackout. It's something which the company - and McMahon - will struggle to live down.