On October 2nd, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (Himself a controversial figure in the eyes of Saudi's hierarchy) entered a Turkish consulate in Istanbul to obtain divorce papers, so he could re-marry with his new Turkish partner...he never returned. After weeks of speculation and uncertainty, it had emerged that Khashoggi had been killed and the reports were diverse, but what is now seemingly very apparent, though without definitive proof, is that he had been murdered at the hands of Saudi authorities, with some reporting that it was incredibly gruesome and barbaric, going as far as involving dismemberment. The eyes of the world were now on Saudi Arabia for all the wrong reasons as answers were demanded, as many Western organisations and industries cut ties with the nation...this brings us to WWE. Being a publicly traded company on the stock market, they have an image to uphold and a business model to run, so it's fair to say that they were under pressure to pull out of their heavily advertised second Saudi show in the midst of all the controversy. Hahahahaha, is what I say, as we all know VINCE MCMAHON is ALL about them Benjamin Franklin's and despite everything that had gone on, Vince decided that Crown Jewel would go ahead as planned. It didn't go 100% smoothly however, as two of WWE's biggest stars (JOHN CENA and DANIEL BRYAN) pulled out of the event, and they had to awkwardly change plans with short notice...BUT...the show must go on, and this, is what went down at WWE Crown Jewel.
(Pre-Show) SHINSUKE NAKAMURA def. RUSEV: U.S Title Match
(Main Show Opening) REY MYSTERIO def. RANDY ORTON
THE MIZ def. JEFF HARDY
SETH ROLLINS def. BOBBY LASHLEY
DOPLH ZIGGLER def. KURT ANGLE
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: THE BAR def. THE NEW DAY
THE MIZ def. REY MYSTERIO
DOLPH ZIGGLER def. SETH ROLLINS
WWE Championship: AJ STYLES def. SAMOA JOE
Universal Championship Match: BROCK LESNER def. BRAUN STROWMAN
Tournament Final: SHANE MCMAHON def. DOLPH ZIGGLER...???
DX def. THE BROTHERS OF DESTRUCTION
Essentially, looking at this from a purely WWE perspective, the event was no more than a big-budget house show, and hopefully none of this will carry on with much significance in regards to RAW and SmackDown...from a different perspective, given all the controversy surrounding the event, the WWE has a lot to mull over before there are any suggestions of going back to Saudi Arabia in 2019, and there are serious questions to be asked over this apparent ten year deal. With Crown Jewel now done and dusted, we can now look forward to a proper show by the name of SURVIVOR SERIES in a couple of weeks time, where the women will return to the ring and we'll hopefully have some proper story lines heading into whatever matches end up on the card. Until then, to answer Hulk Hogan's initial question...what am I gonna do when Crown Jewel runs wild on ME? I'm going to shake my head in disbelief it turns out...SHANE MCMAHON IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD!?!?!?!?!?!?!