10 Times WWE Directly Insulted Your Intelligence

4. Greatest Royal Rumble

Braun Strowman Greatest Royal Rumble
WWE.com

Fresh off of winning the Tag Team Championships with a 10-year-old in his stupid 2018 WrestleMania storyline, Braun Strowman was lifting another title he'd only hold for a few hours in Saudi Arabia after winning WWE's Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.

It provided the closing visual from one of the most uncomfortable WWE viewing experiences of all time. Defeating Triple H in an enjoyably stupid opener, John Cena cut a promo putting over the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ahead of what felt like a hundred vignettes doing exactly the same thing.

This was naked, paid-for propaganda and it was only the beginning - the company signed a ten year deal with the country's Sports Authority as part of their use of major live events to reframe the world's view of a nation not famed for its liberal arts.

WWE became part of that thanks to an alleged $50million dollars per show, burying their heads even during the controversy around murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi around the time of their 2018 Crown Jewel event headlined by a match that saw Shawn Michaels bought out of a nine year retirement.

The ugliness might be mentioned ad infinitum, but that only speaks to precisely how ugly it is.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett