WWE programming is heading towards another global PPV on this Friday night. Crown Jewel will be the next big stop from Saudi Arabia. Multiple legends will be lacing up their boots to participate in this show surrounded by controversies. Jamal Khashoggi killing incident is one of the biggest mainstream news of this time. Saudi Arabia Govt. is under immense pressure due to this.
Must read: Salaries of Marquee Players at Crown Jewel
This, in turn, created pressure on WWE, as well. There were doubts whether Crown Jewel will take place as per the original schedule or not. WWE has finally released an official statement to confirm that there won’t be any change. The show will not move anywhere else from Saudi Arabia. It is a clear indication that millions of dollars acted as the inducer in this scenario.
Must read: Huge title change planned at Crown Jewel
However, there is still some bad news remaining for the officials. Two of the biggest names of the roster have reportedly refused to work in Crown Jewel. None other than John Cena and Daniel Bryan are these two names. So the world cup tournament and the WWE Championship match status are in jeopardy.
Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports confirmed that John Cena is hundred percent off the Crown Jewel PPV. WWE Creative team was hopeful to come in terms with him prior to the show. But he has not moved from his standing to date. So we might get to know about his replacement when the next episode of WWE Raw gets on the air, tonight.
Daniel Bryan is still on for Crown Jewel as per the storyline processes. However, Pro Wrestling Sheet confirmed that he will not work in Saudi Arabia, either. The interesting part is that he and AJ Styles is hyping up the WWE Championship match for this PPV. This could be an indication that Daniel Bryan has agreed to the terms of WWE officials.
WWE gave a clarification when asked about the current situation with the following statement,
“As always, we maintain an open line of communication with our performers and will address each situation accordingly.”
However, WWE management did get support from Ronda Rousey in this matter. Being an Olympian herself, she agrees to the fact that sports are the only way to remove differences between two countries’ governments. So WWE has taken the right decision by not moving Crown Jewel to anywhere else. Here are her comments while speaking to TMZ,
“I think that pulling out of the ‘Crown Jewel’ would be the wrong move because I think that this is an opportunity to be able to share our cultures, and to define what we have in common and in times especially when, you know, times of adversity between two countries that’s the absolute wrong time to be able to pull away. I think that’s the time for us to be able to find what we have in common and be able to understand each other more.”
