Grading every WWE PPV of the year 2018 (Part 1)

2018 is about to culminate a few weeks from today.

This year can never be called the best year for WWE in terms of creativity. But when it comes to quality of matches it was arguably one of the best years in WWE history.

The PPV calendar of 2018 is about to end with one last stop: TLC. WWE served us some memorable PPVs this year, along with some really forgettable ones.

WWE ended its trend of brand-specific PPVs last year. This led to fewer PPVs this year. WWE has given us a total of 14 PPVs in 2018.

Today, we will dwell deep into all these PPVs and will try to find out positive and negative aspects about all of them. We shall also grade them upon this.

So, without any further ado, let us start this review for all the WWE PPVs of the year 2018.

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#1 Royal Rumble

Royal Rumble

Royal Rumble 2018 was highly anticipated, just like any other Royal Rumble PPV of the past. This year for the first time ever a women Royal Rumble match took place at the aforesaid PPV. It also had a triple threat match for the Universal Title and a handicap match for the WWE Championship.

Positives

Royal Rumble was one of those PPV of 2018 which had more positives than negatives. Royal Rumble was won by worthy superstars and other matches were fine as well. The first ever all women Royal Rumble match was decent, with a few surprise entrants making it much more fun.

The surprise return of Rey Mysterio and debut of Ronda Rousey received a great reaction from the fans.

Negatives

The biggest problem with this PPV was the men's Royal Rumble match. It contained very little surprise entrants.

Plus the two major title matches were a letdown overall. Rousey's debut took away the spotlight from Asuka.

Grade: 7.5/10

#2 Elimination Chamber

Elimination Chamber was a debacle

It was the last-ever Raw specific PPV. Elimination Chamber was the night for another first-ever in WWE. As the first-ever Women's Elimination Chamber match took place at the PPV. The PPV was headlined by the men's Elimination Chamber match.

Aside from the Women's Elimination Chamber, the event only had one other title match in the form of The Bar versus Titus Worldwide for the Raw Tag Team Championship.

Positives

It was a weak PPV with not much excitement to it. The only positive to it was the quality of two Elimination Chamber matches. The women's one is also among the best matches of 2018 according to a list released by WWE. Braun Strowman's dominating performance was a big positive coming out of this PPV.

Besides these, no major positive can be derived from of this PPV.

Negatives

One of the reasons for which fans are excited for the Elimination Chamber PPV is that they do not know who is going to enter next in the match. WWE took away this suspense at the start and declared it in advance.

For many fans, Roman Reigns winning was a big let down and predictable to its very core.

Other than these two matches, the other matches were not PPV worthy with no reals stakes to them.

Grade: 5.5/10

#3 Fastlane

Fastlane was good

Fastlane was the last Smackdown Live! specific PPV. It was headlined by a big six-pack match for the WWE Championship. It featured Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura versus Rusev as one of its headlining matches. Bobby Roode's biggest title defense and Ruby Riott's first shot at glory both formed a part of the card as well.

Positives

The main event was solid in which the right Superstar emerged victoriously. The Women's Championship match was also solid. It portrayed Riott as a top-level superstar for the future. Rusev versus Nakamura was the Match of the Night for many fans. It also forms part of the recent list released by WWE.

Negative

The US Championship match between Randy Orton and Roode never got going. The Tag Team Championship match was halted by The Bludgeon Brothers which made it feel so unnecessary.

It was a PPV with very little implications on the future of WWE.

Grade: 8/10

#4 WrestleMania

WrestleMania was not that good

WrestleMania is much bigger than its quality. All that magnificent entrances and pyro makes it feel much more important than the others.

But if we dwell on this year's show, it was not a perfect show at all. It has its share of positive and negative aspects alike.

The show saw a dream match between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles, a Universal Title match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, the debut of Ronda Rousey, a Streak vs Title match, the return of Daniel Bryan, and much more.

Positives

The show was mainly average with two tag matches standing out against the rest. The debut match of Ronda Rousey and returning match of Daniel Bryan were both highly acclaimed. The Intercontinental Title match and Cruiserweight Championship match were also solid.

Flair versus Asuka was one of the best matches of the night.

Negatives

When one talks about WrestleMania, they talk about dream matches and Undertaker. With complete respect to Undertaker's legacy, he is well past his prime. His match against Cena, even if it was a dream encounter, was a squash. Roman Reigns being demolished by Lesnar did not help the matter either.

Styles versus Nakamura was a let down with Nakamura's heel turn being the only saving grace. The two Battle Royals and Tag Team Championship matches were largely forgettable.

Grade: 6/10

#5 Greatest Royal Rumble

A glorified house-show

In April WWE announced that they had signed a ten year deal with Saudi Arabia Government. It was a controversial deal from the very start, and it only got messier as the year rolled on.

WWE, just after the brand-split, held The Greatest Royal Rumble PPV. It was headlined by a massive 50-men Royal Rumble comprising the likes of Rey Mysterio, The Great Khali, Chris Jericho, and Kurt Angle. A match between John Cena and Triple H took place at the event. Rusev faced Undertaker which was the first ever match between the two. Two Wrestlemania rematches also took place at the glorified event.

Positive

The event, when announced, made everyone feel excited, but it had very little to invest into. The quality of certain matches was good which saved the event from being a complete debacle. The main-event was finely contested with right superstar going over. Daniel Bryan being presented as a fighter was a great story. Just like any other PPV, the Intercontinental Title match was great.

Negative

Fans found this nothing more than a glorified house show. The Royal Rumble match was good, but without any real stakes to it. It made the whole event feel rather unimportant to fans. Aside from the crowning of new Raw Tag Team Champions, no title changed hands at the event and no major storyline progression took place at the event. Women Superstars, an important part of WWE, were not allowed to be part of this show.

Grade: 3/10