WWE Crown Jewel was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event promoted by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on November 2, 2018, at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[1] The event hosted the first-ever WWE World Cup tournament “to determine the best in the world”.[3] It also marked the in-ring return of Shawn Michaels, who retired in 2010, as well as the return of Hulk Hogan—who had not appeared on WWE television since a 2015 scandal—who served as the event’s host.
The card comprised of twelve matches, including one on the 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 after replacing The Miz, who was ruled unable to compete after originally qualifying for the final. In other prominent matches, Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman to win the vacant WWE Universal Championship for a record second time, and AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe to retain the WWE Championship.
Due to the controversy surrounding the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, WWE faced harsh criticism for continuing on with the event despite the murder and was asked to stop its business ventures in Saudi Arabia by multiple parties. The controversy also led to the company’s top babyfaces, John Cena and Daniel Bryan, boycotting the show. The event itself was negatively received, in particular due to the Universal Title bout and the World Cup final.
