WWE Crown Jewel 2018 (2018)
November 2, 2018Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
This Movie Is About.
Cast & Crew.
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman
Paul Michael Lévesque
Triple H
Michael Hickenbottom
Shawn Michaels
Mark Calaway
The Undertaker
Bryan Danielson
Daniel Bryan
Glenn Jacobs
Kane
Kevin Dunn
Director
Kevin Dunn
Director
Media.
Details.
Release DateNovember 2, 2018
StatusReleased
Running Time3h
Wiki.
The 2018 Crown Jewel was the inaugural Crown Jewel professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on November 2, 2018, at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It was the second event WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030, after the Greatest Royal Rumble in April, and it hosted the first-ever WWE World Cup tournament. The event also marked the final match of Shawn Michaels, who had retired from active in-ring competition at WrestleMania XXVI in 2010, though returned for this match, as well as the return of Hulk Hogan—who had not appeared on WWE programming since a 2015 scandal—who served as the event's host.
Twelve matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) defeated The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane). In the penultimate match, Shane McMahon defeated Dolph Ziggler to win the WWE World Cup. In other prominent matches, The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The New Day (represented by Big E and Kofi Kingston), AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe to retain SmackDown's WWE Championship, and Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman to win Raw's vacant Universal Championship.
Due to the controversy surrounding the killing of Jamal Khashoggi as well as accusations against Saudi Arabia for severe human rights abuses, leading a war of attrition in Yemen and suppressing women's rights, WWE faced harsh criticism for producing the event and was asked to stop its business ventures in Saudi Arabia by multiple parties. The controversy also led to the company's top babyfaces at the time, John Cena and Daniel Bryan, boycotting the show. The event itself was met with generally negative reviews, especially the main event, the Universal Championship match, and the World Cup final.