We have noted earlier in reports that not every WWE superstar is thrilled about heading to Saudi Arabia and get a big fat paycheck. Sure, they are having an overwhelming amount written on them but sometimes that’s not all for the big league players.
The Undertaker missing Crown Jewel
Backlash is evident when you regularly visit the kingdom surrounding controversies. The tradition continues with the upcoming Crown Jewel PPV as some of the top superstars denied to head back to the country.
Triple H not coming back to action
As per the reports of wwfoldschool.com, there are five names from the active roster who will not be performing at 2019 Crown Jewel. You may have a look at them and the potential reasons behind their absence from the October event.
Aleister Black
The former WWE NXT Champion is one of the fresh faces on Monday Night Raw following WWE Draft. The current executive director of the show, Paul Heyman is said to be quite high on him.
But for now, Aleister Black will have to be off from an active storyline due to the fact that WWE won’t allow him to compete in Crown Jewel.
The reason why he might not be there is that his body is completely covered with tattoos. His in-ring gear doesn’t hide them as he just wears a trunk to the ring.
Also, he is known Satanist by religion that may not suit well with the Saudi Arabia crowd. The older generation does not take these things in a good manner and hence WWE does not want to bring unnecessary controversy around Crown Jewel regarding him.
Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars that WWE roster possesses, right now. This makes his absence from Crown Jewel a surprising one considering that WWE already announced him for an appearance.
The Planet’s Champion is not intending to head back to the middle-east region due to the fact that he wants to avoid the political problems around Saudi Arabia. It is the same reason why he refused to work at last year’s Crown Jewel, too.
His last appearance in Saudi Arabia was at The Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018 where he set an all-time record by staying in a Rumble match for the longest time.
Kevin Owens
One of the top babyface superstars of WWE Raw roster is Kevin Owens who also refused to work in WWE Crown Jewel 2019. His family does not want him to visit Saudi Arabia, probably owing to the fact that the country has an unstable political situation.
Also, the fact that Saudi officials do not allow his best friend Sami Zayn to work in their shows also worked as a factor behind his absence. He also made one last appearance in Saudi Arabia back at The Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018.
Sami Zayn
The SmackDown resident superstar, Sami Zayn is one constant name who has never competed in the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia. The sports authority of the country is not fond of his Syrian roots.
Saudi and Syria share a bitter relationship for several years now. So the hosts of Crown Jewel do not want to make the situation worse by bringing Zayn for an appearance.
WWE also released a statement regarding the situation, “WWE is committed to embracing individuals from all backgrounds while respecting local customs and cultural differences around the world.”
Zayn is currently acting as the manager of Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. But he won’t be there for the scheduled match for The Artist who will participate in a Team Flair vs. Team Hogan tag team contest.
The entire women’s division
Perhaps the biggest controversy surrounding the Saudi Arabia events revolves around the women superstars. Despite in a progressive era like this where the female names have competed in Wrestlemania 35 main event, Crown Jewel won’t allow them on the card.
It marks the 4th Saudi pay-per-view in a row sans the female athletes. There are certain rigidities when it comes to female sportspersons performing in front of a live audience in the Kingdom.
The Prince of Saudi Arabia is working on giving women their rights which is a slow process. WWE tried to host a match featuring the women at Super ShowDown back in June but the officials denied their request.
We hope someday the Saudi officials will take this revolutionary step and give one more reason to the fans to witness PPVs like Crown Jewel.
