This has been a truly global year for WWE, with the brand taking its premium live events to arenas and stadiums around the world, including Saudi Arabia and the UK, after a 30-year absence.

Here are Arab News’ top 5 moments of the year.

5. Steve Austin makes WrestleMania comeback

WrestleMania 38, AT&T Stadium, Arlington Texas, April 2

With the tagline of “The Most Stupendous Two-Night Event In WrestleMania History”, the main event of WrestleMania first night saw the return of the “Bionic Redneck” Steve Austin to the ring.

His opponent that evening, Kevin Owens, came out to host a special edition of the “KO Show” with Austin as his special guest. This was Stone Cold’s first WrestleMania appearance since 2016, which took place at the same venue.

During the segment, Owens said that he lied to him about having as a guest to lure him into a “no holds barred” match. Austin accepted.

Backed by the crowd, Austin taunted his opponent throughout and delivered his signature move, a stone cold stunner, on Owens to win the match.

Afterwards, Austin performed a second stunner on Owens, who was escorted out by Texas police afterwards.

Austin then celebrated with commentator Byron Saxton, after which, he performed a stunner on him. Austin then carried on the celebrations with his brother to close out WrestleMania night one.

4. Elimination Chamber comes to Saudi

Elimination Chamber, Jeddah Super Dome, Jeddah, Feb. 19

This year’s road to WrestleMania was an international one, with Jeddah its first stop.

In the main event of that evening in Saudi Arabia, Bobby Lashley defended the WWE Championship against AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, Riddle, Austin Theory, and Seth Rollins in the Premium Live Events marquee attraction, the Elimination Chamber match.

Theory and Rollins started the match. Rollins performed a buckle bomb on Theory into Lashley’s pod. The impact resulted in Lashley needing medical assistance and the referees to remove him from the match due to concussion protocol.

The third entrant was Riddle followed by Styles. The fifth entrant was supposed to be Lashley, however, since he was removed from the match, Brock Lesnar broke through his pod and entered the match in his typical dominant fashion.

Lesnar performed F5s on Rollins, Styles and Riddle, to eliminate them. Lesnar then performed an F5 on Theory from the top of a chamber pod.

He then pinned Theory to win the WWE Championship for a seventh time.

3. Gunther and Sheamus clash in Wales

Clash at the Castle, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Sept. 3

The Intercontinental Champion from Austria, Gunther, and the powerhouse from Dublin, Sheamus, stole the show with their bout at Clash at the Castle in Wales. 

While this would have been an exciting face-off regardless of the venue, having it take place at the first WWE stadium show in the UK in 30 years added even more energy and passion.

Due to their hard-hitting style, Gunther vs Sheamus had been viewed as a dream match, and since they are two of the top European wrestlers, it was fitting that that Wales was the setting for their collision.

Their long-awaited matchup lived up to the hype, with a back-and-forth battle that featured several near-falls and brutal offense from both wrestlers.

Sheamus came close to dethroning the champion, with both showcasing scars and welts on their chests from enduring each others offense. Gunther managed to retain the title, and extend a reign that could eventually go down as one of the most dominant Intercontinental Championship runs in recent history.

2. WarGames takes center stage

Survivor Series WarGames at TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, Nov. 27

The 36th Annual Survivor Series Showcased two WarGames matches, one for men and the other for women. 

The women’s WarGames match opened the WWE Thanksgiving Event, with Team Belair — consisting of Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Mia Yim, and Becky Lynch — taking on Team Bayley, which included Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky, Nikki Cross, and Rhea Ripley.

Lynch hit a double diving leg drop on Kai and Sky through a table and pinned Kai to win the match for Team Belair.

The mens WarGames match was the main event of the evening, where the Bloodline faction of Roman Reigns, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), Solo Sikoa, and Sami Zayn accompanied by Paul Heyman battled against Brawling Brutes  — consisting of Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch and their partners Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens.

Jey Uso delivered a flying uce on Owens to win the match for The Bloodline.

1. Logan Paul Steals the Show in Riyadh

Crown Jewel at Mrsool Park, Riyadh, Nov. 5

In a matchup that had fans in a frenzy, Roman Reigns defeated Logan Paul by pinfall to retain his WWE Undisputed Universal Championship in the much-anticipated Crown Jewel bout in Riyadh. 

In a video that Logan and WWE posted on Instagram, Logan can be seen standing on the top rope while the camera was filming him.

Logan told the Saudi crowd that this is what they want and yelled at Roman that he was going to go viral.