10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About 2018
1. Crown Farce
The terms of WWE's multi-million dollar deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority stipulated a decade-long partnership with the company, so other than being crow-barred into a schedule already packed to the gills, the September announcement of a second show in the Kingdom didn't raise eyebrows.
Foreheads soon became a hotbed of furious follicle fervour when, after Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was allegedly murdered at the hands of the Saudi government, WWE remained silent. As a host of media corporations dropped out of the regime's Vision 2020 programme in disgust, Vince decided to forge ahead. Money was worth more than morals.
The exact same human rights concerns that had plagued Greatest Royal Rumble resurfaced for the aptly named Crown Jewel, now with the added bonus of the company pleading ignorant to a potentially gross violation of basic liberties. What's more, WWE decided Riyadh was the place to bury bad news, choosing this show of all shows to reintroduce disgraced racist - disgracist - Hulk Hogan. They couldn't lose their dignity any further.
The show itself was a complete shambles, but that fact was utterly irrelevant. It'd take WWE a long time to live down one of the most shameful episodes in the company's history. Hopefully, they won't be allowed to. Hopefully, they won't be allowed to. Hopefully, they won't be allowed to.