5 Best Moments On WWE Crown Jewel 2021 (And 5 Worst)

3. Worst - Be A Star?!

More on the broader propaganda problem elsewhere in this article, but WWE's decision to run a "Be A Star" campaign video was one of the more insidious moments on a show destined to be full of them.

To make this point crystal clear - if you accept this as a wholly nice thing free of agenda, you are part of the reason sportswashing. And this isn't a moral high ground. This article is part of the same capitalistic structure too! The trick the method plays is in forcing just about everybody to be complicit in it, including the likes of Mansoor, Natalya, Big E and others that were featured in a sweet video that made a bunch of schoolchildren's day.

It's bad enough that a company with a record of ritualistic and horrifically cruel treatment of wrestlers in the past now presents itself as anti-bullying. It's worse still when this marketing copy is trotted out as part of this specific show.

 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

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