4 reasons why WWE Crown Jewel was underwhelming

WWE's special show in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has just concluded - and to be honest, it was underwhelming, to say the least.

WWE currently boasts of the best roster of all time, arguably. However, the WWE Creative team has been continuously failing to use the stars properly, and are watering down the quality of the content.

Even with a stacked card involving more than 10 former world champions, WWE failed to capitalise. When WWE toured Saudi Arabia earlier, the crowd was mild. However this time, the crowd was very involved - yet, WWE failed to make the most of it.

Even though there were many low points, there were some ups too. The main event between The Brothers of Destruction and D-Generation X was surprisingly good. AJ Styles against Samoa Joe was short but sweet, and some of the World Cup matches were good as well.

On this list, we will be taking a look at a few reasons why WWE Crown Jewel failed to live up to expectations. So without further ado, lets get started.

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#4 Poor match quality

F5, pin, repeat - most matches used the same formula of repeated kick outs without much action

Even though WWE prefers story-telling to quality wrestling, one cannot overlook the wrestling aspect completely. Crown Jewel was seriously deprived of quality matches. Most matches were short - thus not allowing the bouts to reach their full potential.

The Universal title match, the World Cup final, and most of the World Cup preliminary matches were underwhelming.

The WWE Championship match between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe was short, although it was sweet. However, most matches used the same formula of repeated kick outs without much action.

#3 Everything associated with Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman is arguably the biggest loser from Crown Jewel

On paper, the match between Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman had the potential to surpass their underwhelming match at No Mercy in 2017. However, WWE somehow managed to fall below that.

Everything associated with the Universal Championship match was asinine. The result, the match, and the storytelling were abysmal. After building up Strowman as a reckless monster, WWE just squandered all that.

Lesnar basically squashed Strowman, even be it with a slight assist from Baron Corbin. WWE had the tenacity to put the Universal title on a part-time champion, whose first reign was forgettable, to say the least. Braun did not even have a single major offense in the match. The Beast annihilated The Monster Among Men.

With Lesnar as the top champion on the red brand again, it will probably be a long time before we see another title defence.

#2 The World Cup final

Shane McMahon is the best in the world

The World Cup final was a train-wreck. Even though many fans anticipated many dream matches, they were not disappointed by the scheduled final between Dolph Ziggler and The Miz.

The duo had a great feud in 2016 after the brand split, involving a series of brilliant matches. So the WWE Universe was okay with it. However, things started going south when The Miz began to limp during the clash. The referee ruled The Awesome One unable to continue, and asked the announcer to end the match via forfeit.

However, the commissioner of SmackDown Live, Shane McMahon, decided to take matters into his own hands and replaced the A-lister to represent SmackDown. Even in kayfabe terms, this did not make any sense, as Ziggler already had two matches on the day, but Shane was fresh heading into the match.

#1 The main event

DX stood victorious at the end of Crown Jewel

In 2008, a match between D-Generation X and The Brothers Of Destruction would have excited any wrestling fan around the world. However, in 2018, that is not the case. It should have been lower down the card.

WWE has made it a habit of hindering their full-time wrestlers who work 300+ days a year, giving the spotlight to part-timers. All important shows these days are headlined by a part-timer.

Even though the match was not as bad as anticipated, this was nothing to write home about. Shawn Michaels still showed signs of high flying movement and agility, but the match overall was quite dull.

There were deep pauses and huge lags in the match, as well as numerous botches, including Kane losing his mask mid-way into the match. As someone who saw these four legends during their prime, this match was nothing but a sad rip-off of their glory days.