10 Ways 2018 Was WWE's Craziest Year EVER

3. Every Single Thing About Crown Jewel Was Insane

WWE Crown Jewel
WWE.com

Nothing that happened at Crown Jewel could possibly deflect from the unprecedented publicity firestorm WWE brazenly walked right through to ensure November's Saudi Arabia supershow went ahead as planned, but the company tried their hardest to erase memories of the build-up by ushering in unprecedented levels of banter masquerading as pro wrestling.

The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was reason when plenty already existed for WWE to pull out of the event, but the risk of sabotaging an alleged $450million 10-year deal was deemed greater than the potential audience alienation. Once WWE had drawn that line though, there was clearly no ink left in the booker's pen.

Shawn Michaels came out of f*cking retirement for a moneyed main event most remembered for Kane's bargain basement props falling off his face. Shane McMahon entered an eight-man elimination tournament in the last eight minutes and won the c*nt in his jeans and vest looking like the biggest one in the entire company. Hulk Hogan snuck back on to television under the proviso that he not mention where he actually was. For a change, 'The Hulkster' was recorded saying all the right things. Brock Lesnar squashed Braun Strowman again because why press F5 once when you can trigger a real refresh by smashing the key to f*cking pieces?

Kudos to those who ethically elected to #CancelWWENetwork over this. Condolences to those that waited until after the show to make the move.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 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 65,000,000 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 provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, 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.