Best Of 2018: News Story Of The Year
IMG Credit: WWEGen
This is a weird one as it takes us both in and out of the ring. It’s more along the lines of the biggest headline, which could be either good or bad. Some of these are a lot more widespread than others but they’re all important in one way or another. That makes this rather interesting in a way, as some stories have more ramifications than they would originally seem to.
Shawn Michaels Returns To The Ring
This is one of those things where you almost never believed it could happen. Michaels had the perfect retirement back in the day and had been teased to return to the ring almost ever since. Now though he actually got back in the ring….and it didn’t matter whatsoever for the most part. It was a one off (for now) appearance and while Shawn looked decent, it came on such a nothing show that it was more of a disappointment than anything else.
Ronda Rousey Is Awesome
I said this one in Surprise Of The Year but who in the world expected her to be this good? Rousey coming over to WWE made some headlines in mainstream sports but I don’t think anyone imagined she would be so awesome so fast. Rousey hasn’t had a bad match yet and has run through everyone in front of her like they’re nothing. I don’t know how much better she can get, but it’s going to be fun to watch.
WWE TV Ratings Plummet
I didn’t really consider this one a strong contender because it happens every year. At the same time though, it never gets this bad. You can’t be surprised that the ratings got this bad because the shows were just so bad. There was nothing good about them more often than not and WWE didn’t exactly go out of their way to make things better. At the end of the day you can’t get around bad wrestling TV and that’s what WWE found out in a hard way this time. It’s getting a little better, but without things really changing it’s not going to fix things.
Roman Reigns Vacates The Universal Title
Now we’re getting somewhere as this is the kind of thing that changes wrestling companies. Reigns is gone for the time being and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. WWE has spent years centering the company around Reigns and now that he’s gone, WWE is really starting to feel the burn. Reigns’ health is what really matters here though, as there’s nothing good about having any wrestler, especially one in the prime of his career, taken out like this. I hope Reigns gets better so it can be an even bigger headline soon.
Daniel Bryan Returns To The Ring
This is a bigger one than Shawn for me as I never would have believed it could happen. While it’s certainly a surprise, it also offers something bigger. Bryan was injured for so long and it seemed hopeless yet he came back (and got awesome again under a new character). It gives hope for others whose careers seem to be over, which could make things a lot more interesting in the future.
WWE FOX Deal
WWE has a history with being on network TV but the idea of a weekly show is unheard of for them. It’s a huge step forward and a huge financial boom for the company. With the money coming in there are also loftier expectations, which could mean we get a better Smackdown going forward. I want to see where this goes, but it’s already gone pretty far to start.
All In Sells Out Almost Instantly
Earlier in the year, All In was announced and sounded like something with potential but nothing that big. Then it sold out in something like half an hour (I was thinking about going to the show and then saw how fast it was gone, much to my own shock) and it was clear that they had something special. The show being really good was just a bonus, because the show being such a success was what really mattered.
That’s all wrestling stuff though. Now we need to get to what really matters.
Controversy Over Crown Jewel
This is the kind of thing that went beyond wrestling as it made mainstream headlines. It made WWE look like a money hungry company (it’s not like other companies aren’t the same) who was willing to ignore everything else going on involving a man’s death for the sake of a huge check. This was a disaster on every point, with the show being a nightmare making it even worse. WWE is going to keep going to Saudi Arabia and it’s going to look bad every single time. But at least the stock went up or something right?
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