The Reason Shane McMahon Won the WWE World Cup Tournament

To say that Shane McMahon winning the WWE World Cup tournament at Crown Jewel was a shock would be an understatement.

The Commissioner of SmackDown, who had previously promised that if any of his brand's stars lost in the finals of the tournament they would be fired, ended up stepping in for The Miz in the finals of the tournament and won the match in just over two minutes against Dolph Ziggler.

Reaction to the news was swift and virtually universally negative among wrestling fans on social media. Apparently, according to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE's reason for Shane's victory revolved around a planned heel turn for the head-man on SmackDown. The tournament victory was apparently always planned for Shane despite him not ever being an announced competitor.

It is also noteworthy that rumors of The Miz being legitimately injured, causing WWE to place McMahon in his spot, are false. Miz is good to go, as evidenced by the fact that he has already started working WWE's European tour that is now underway this weekend. It was simply a storyline injury done at Crown Jewel to explain McMahon's entry (and victory) in the tournament.

Since his return to the company a couple of years ago, McMahon has pretty much always been universally cheered by the fans, even advertising SmackDown as the "people's show." It will be interesting to watch WWE shift gears on that and portray Shane in the same light as his father and sister.

The reason for Shane's turn isn't known at this time. It could be primarily brought on due to declining SmackDown television ratings in an effort to shake things up, or it could simply be a reset for a character that has been on pretty much the same trajectory for several years now.