10 Most SHOCKING WWE 2018 Moments

2. Crown Jewel Went Ahead After Murder And Evolution

WWE’s first foray into Saudi Arabia in April for Greatest Royal Rumble was controversial enough due to the Kingdom banning female from working on the show, be it in front of the cameras or behind the scenes. Even Stephanie McMahon was barred from attending.

Six months later the promotion returned to the country again for Crown Jewel, a show that played host to the in-ring return of Shawn Michaels – more on him later – and featured a World Cup tournament (TO DETERMINE THE BEST IN THE WORLD) that existed purely to mock political rivals Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

That WWE were running an event where women were banned from wrestling less than a week after promoting all-women’s show Evolution was not lost on anyone. Never mind all the talk of revolutionising women’s wrestling – the proximity to Crown Jewel made it clear that WWE were merely trying to make up for doing something they knew was morally wrong.

It got worse when journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an outspoken critics against the Saudi regime, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Turkey by a team of specialists sent by his home nation. The slaughter became international headline news and WWE felt pressure from the media and high-ranking politicians to terminate their relationship with the Saudi regime and pull out of Crown Jewel.

They didn’t. WWE went ahead with the show, with the only concession being to conveniently forget to promote the city or country it was coming from in advance of and during the event.

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