How Did We Get Here?! WWE 2018 Review

Published in

The Squared Circle

5 min readDec 28, 2018

It’s been a long year to say the least. Let’s recap.

2018 started with a New Year’s Day edition of RAW that saw Universal Champ Brock Lesnar in a strange feud with Kane and Braun Strowman, setting up their triple-threat match at Royal Rumble. Roman Reigns was the Intercontinental Champion, and Seth Rollins/Jason Jordan were RAW Tag Team Champs.

On the Smackdown side, AJ Styles held the WWE Title while locked in a handicapped feud with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Some brief interactions between the 3 of them and the then GM Daniel Bryan would leave all of us asking the question, “where is this going?”

Little did we know that by the end of the year, Brock would still be Universal Champ, Roman would be out of action, and Daniel Bryan would come out of retirement in March and eventually become a heel WWE Champion. Whew! How did we get here?!

Here are some highlights and lowlights of 2018.

HIGHLIGHT: Rowdy Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey entered the WWE as a full-time superstar at the end of January, making her “surprise” debut at the Royal Rumble. She had a rocky start on the microphone, leaving most of us wondering whether or not this was all an over-hyped mistake.

But by the time she entered the ring at Wrestlemania, those fears subsided. Not only did she prove herself in the ring, but her mic skills improved too (minus that constantly disarming smile that doesn’t match her tough girl persona).

LOWLIGHT: Roman Reigns’ Health

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re aware that shortly after finally becoming Universal Champion, Roman Reigns walked into the ring and announced that his leukemia had returned. This would force him to relinquish the title that he’s worked for years to obtain. This stunned WWE fans, and left us all praying that Brock Lesnar did not end up with the title back around his waist. UGH. More on that later.

HIGHLIGHT: Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins has been the most consistent WWE superstar of 2018. He started the year as on half of the RAW Tag Team Champions, and has since been the focal point of the best matches of the year.

His gauntlet match on RAW in February was hands-down the RAW match of the year. He was in the ring for an hour and 5 minutes in one of the most impressive performances in modern WWE history. His Wrestlemania 34 match vs. The Miz and Finn Balor stole the show on the Grandest Stage of them All, and his Intercontinental Title reign has re-energized the working man’s title again. Here’s hoping 2019 is just as entertaining for the Architect.

LOWLIGHT: The Shield

Despite WWE’s best effort, it seems that the long-awaited Shield reunion was just not meant to be. After a false start at the end of 2017 due to Dean Ambrose’s injury, they legitimized the reunion when the Lunatic Fringe returned in late August. From the get-go they hinted at an Ambrose heel-turn. Then, on the very same night that Roman Reigns announced his leave, Dean sealed the doomed fate of The Shield by turning on Seth Rollins just moments after the duo won the RAW Tag Team Championships.

As much as we wanted to see The Shield back on top, it seems fate just doesn’t want it to happen. At least not for any real amount of time.

HIGHLIGHT: Becky Lynch

Nobody saw this coming. If you had told me at the beginning of 2018 that Becky Lynch would be not only the high point of the WWE women's division, but also the most interesting thing in all of WWE, I would have laughed. Becky reinvented herself with a monumental heel turn against Charlotte at SummerSlam. As fans, we didn’t know how to handle it. We loved her so much that even her despicable antics were cheered. With her Stone Cold-esque attitude, the WWE universe quickly became engrossed in her storyline with Charlotte and Ronda Rousey. This culminated with her face being broken by Nia Jax in a brawl leading up to Survivor Series, leaving us all craving the Becky vs. Ronda match that could have been.

Rumor has it the match could potentially headline Wrestlemania 35, and I am all for it!

LOWLIGHT: Brock Lesnar

I hate to even write this, but it seems necessary that I remind everyone that Brock Lesnar will finish 2018 as the WWE Universal Champion…again. Let’s not even get into the fact that he hasn’t actually wrestled on RAW since 2002. We were all swerved at Wrestlemania 34 when we were sure Roman Reigns would finally dethrone the part-timer. Then again at the Greatest Royal Rumble. After Roman finally took the title at SummerSlam, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Only to be thrust back into this hell a couple of months later when Roman relinquished the title and it found its way back around the waist of the elusive “Beast.”

I truly hope that when I write the 2019 year in review I don’t have to mention Lesnar. Please, WWE. Give us the title back. We miss it.

More highlights:

Adam Cole becomes first ever North American Champion in ladder match
The return of The Demon King at SummerSlam vs. Baron Corbin
Every single NXT:Takeover in 2018. Superb!

More lowlights:

Wrestlemania 34 was extremely underwhelming.
RAW 25, what a mess!
Bobby Lashley…just, like, in general. (Remember the angle with his “sisters?” Blech.

Got anything to add? Sound off in the comments below.

For a detailed month-by-month recap of 2018, check out this post on ESPN.com