4 reasons why Crown Jewel underwhelmed the WWE Universe
WWE Crown Jewel received somewhat mixed responses from many WWE fans. In an event which saw Shane McMahon unexpectedly win the WWE World Cup, AJ Styles retain his WWE title, Brock Lesnar regain the vacant Universal Championship and DX defeat The Brothers of Destruction - it was certainly a night that left more questions than answers.
In many ways it was a night for the old guard, Hulk Hogan returned as host for the night, 48-year old Shane McMahon became 'the best in the world' and the main event had four competitors with the combined age of 206.
Many have criticised the company's lack of direction, citing that WWE is too focused on their past rather than the future. However, the main event did live up to expectations, and Shane McMahon winning the World Cup tournament will leave many interested in seeing what happens next.
To many this event was always destined to fail. The political pressure put on WWE before the event, superstars pulling out, and the females not being able to compete, put a dark cloud over the event from the outset.
Although many were unhappy with the company's decision to go ahead with the event, many fans inside the King Saud University Stadium were excited to see the WWE come to their country.
Critics questioned Brock Lesnar regaining the WWE Universal Championship in his match against Braun Strowman. WWE were in a difficult position here as former champion Roman Reigns was forced to relinquish the title a couple of weeks ago on Raw after the devastating news that he had been diagnosed with leukemia.
Some see Lesnar's sporadic appearances as a good enough reason not to put the title on him, as his last title reign saw him appear infrequently.
Although the event itself had some good moments, here are 4 reasons why it underwhelmed.
#4 Bad for public relations
WWE Crown Jewel was a bad PR exercise for the company. Many had criticised the WWE's decision to go ahead with the event for political reasons, whilst others pointed towards the amount of money the company was receiving as the prime reason for them going to Saudi Arabia in the first place.
On top of this, WWE's decision to have Hulk Hogan host the event did not go down well with many fans. Hogan was suspended by the WWE for racial remarks he made in 2008 on a radio show, and for a period he was removed from WWE's archives.
Many thought Hogan would never appear on WWE TV again, such was the severity of his remarks. However, The Hulkster was not just part of this event, he hosted it.
One of the problems many saw with WWE having an event in Saudi Arabia is that women were not allowed to wrestle on the show. At a time WWE is growing women's wrestling, and one week removed from the critically acclaimed Evolution pay-per-view, this event took the gloss off a historic and successful night for women's wrestling.