5 mistakes WWE made in 2018

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are those of the writer and do not reflect those of Sportskeeda

2018 was not really the best year for WWE and sadly it was capped off by the Christmas special Raw which had the worst ever Raw ratings.

It's been a year that has been marred with some controversies and news which WWE probably would have preferred to avoid (The Crown Jewel among many things).

On the other hand, it has suffered from injuries and layoffs to some of its best talents. They've lost Roman Reigns who is out fighting with leukaemia, they've had layoffs for Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Braun Strowman among many others.

At the same time, it's been a year where WWE hasn't really hit its stride and has been off the mark by its own standards as well. There are many areas where it fell short and many things which it probably shouldn't have done. At the end of the year, we look back at the mistakes that WWE made and what impact it had.

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#1 The Crown Jewel

A PPV that should just not have taken place at all

This was a PPV that was doomed from the very beginning. First Roman Reigns was lost due to his fight with Leukemia and the Universal Championship was vacated, then news came out about what had happened politically which left WWE in a spot they just hadn't expected.

They stopped mentioning the Crown Jewel during their live shows but the PPV was still going to take place. Many people (including the wrestlers) were not in favour of it which became clear when Daniel Bryan and John Cena opted out of appearing for their respective matches at Crown Jewel.

It was a PPV which in hindsight WWE would have done well to avoid as it brought a lot of bad press with it. Even the PPV was just not up to the standards and it seemed like it was a box that WWE had to tick.

#2 Roman Reigns Losing to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania

For so long Roman Reigns was shoved down the audience's throats as "The Guy" and for what?

"The Big Dog" it's almost hard to recount how many times that phrase was repeated to describe Roman Reigns again and again and again throughout the year. He was portrayed as the person who would ultimately dethrone Brock Lesnar after numerous failed attempts by so many on the roster.

But then, come to WrestleMania 34 he was bloodied by Brock, beaten to a pulp and ultimately pinned. Which just made everyone ask what was the fuss around Roman? WWE had backed and to an extent protected Roman Reigns to ultimately let him lose the main match at the Grandest Stage of them all.

If the crowd didn't like the way Roman was shoved down their throats earlier this made even a lot less sense. For a few succeeding weeks, Roman became a complete joke when he came out to say that he can beat Brock Lesnar.

The stage was set for WWE to crown Roman at Wrestlemania and they blew it completely.

#3 Ending Asuka's winning streak against Charlotte

After building up Asuka until Wrestlemania, Asuka's fall from grace was almost as dramatic and just made it hard to digest

Asuka had an amazing mystique around her ever since she had stepped into the WWE main roster after her stint at NXT. She was undefeated and her winning streak brought an extra edge to that character.

That's why when she won the Women's Royal Rumble and challenged Charlotte Flair for the title she was the hot favourite to win.

But to the surprise of many, Charlotte came up trumps against Asuka and in the process ended her winning streak.

What followed next was even more surprising as somehow for no reason at all, Asuka the women who just could not be pinned earlier started picking up losses to Carmella of all people(with the help of James Elsworth).

Out of the Blue Asuka was stepped aside as her stock plummeted and she was left into obscurity(though she has been redeemed by her most recent championship win in SmackDown).

#4 Turning Braun Strowman into the "Nearly" Man of WWE

Crown Jewel was the perfect opportunity to put the title on Braun Strowman and let him run with it

This was what Braun Strowman's year looked like. He lost to Roman Reigns in the Elimination Chamber for the No.1 contender's match. Then he couldn't win the title again when he encashed the Money in the Bank contract after countless horrible cash-in attempts.

Then at the Crown Jewel, he was squashed by Brock Lesnar and it is highly anticipated that he will lose to Brock Lesnar again at the Royal Rumble.

Braun Strowman is one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE and he is over with the Crowd as well. By not putting the title on him at any of those instances, WWE has put off the Crowd and they're not even bothered by who the Universal Champion is.

One of the reasons why Raw's ratings have suffered is because of a lack of a face for the Brand as Brock is absent most of the time.

With Braun, they had a great chance to actually put the title on him and for once have a fan favourite be at the top of the food chain.

#5 The match Between DX and the Brothers of Destruction

4 legends who just looked way past their expiry dates didn't seem right

For people high on Nostalgia, this probably brought back some great memories but even they would not have been able to gloss over the fact that this was just a horrible horrible match.

All 4 of them seemed to be way beyond their prime and just looked a shadow of themselves in the ring. The botches were almost comical with Kane's mask falling off at one point of time.

It was almost painful to watch after having seen all 4 of them perform at such a high level throughout their career and in retrospect, this was a match(just like the PPV) that should never have happened.

In the end, this was a match which was best forgotten when you think about the illustrious careers of these 4 legends.