5 Reasons Shane McMahon Won The WWE World Cup
WWE Crown Jewel 2018. An event marred by controversy before it even took place, when WWE performers arrived and prepared for the event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, fans did not expect an excessively memorable pay-per-view or anything controversial.
They expected that WWE had already had enough controversy to deal with, without creating even more. Well, they were wrong.
WWE had more than just a few surprises and controversial decisions planned for the event.
First of all, the event was kicked off, by 'The Real American' Hulk Hogan, of all people. That in itself is a big point to think about.
Later in the night, in the Universal Championship match, Brock Lesnar faced Braun Strowman. Where most people had thought that Lesnar would lose, 'The Beast' surprised everyone and won the Universal Championship after four F-5s, after a little help from Corbin. Lesnar's win may have its own explanation, but this article is not about that.
However, the biggest shock of the night came somewhere else. In the WWE World Cup tournament, none of the eight men who were part of the series originally were able to win. Instead, when the Miz was 'injured', it was Shane McMahon who took his place in the tournament final.
Suddenly inserting himself, on behalf of SmackDown Live, he defeated Dolph Ziggler with a Coast-to-coast and picked the victory and the trophy. He ran celebrating with the trophy himself, proclaiming himself the 'best in the world'.
Fans were left questioning what they had seen and trying to understand why Shane McMahon would do this.
In this article, we will explore five possible reasons why Shane McMahon did what he did at Crown Jewel.
#5 WWE's way of mocking CM Punk
For a long time, WWE has been haunted. No, not by the Phenom, but by the spectre of a wrestler, gone from the company, for upwards of 5 years now.
CM Punk might have been released by WWE, but he is a name whom the fans cannot forget. While the adulation Punk received from the fans originally has faded slowly, it is in no way gone.
When WWE focused on the tag-line 'Best in the world' for the WWE World Cup, the fans chanted and cheered for CM Punk. The chants were loud enough that Shane McMahon had to shut them up with the quiet put-down, "He isn't here."
By handing Shane McMahon the title, it goes to show how little WWE cares about the tagline and takes away from the legacy that Punk left in the company.