WWE To Go Ahead With Crown Jewel Unless US State Department Or Donald Trump Says They Can't
Shawn Michaels' big comeback match seemingly still going ahead...
Oct 15, 2018
Ahead of the Crown Jewel event on 2 November, WWE's deal with Saudi Arabia has received a great deal of mainstream media attention over the past week or so. However, while many are calling for the company to scrap the event and any relations they have with the Saudi royal family, it looks like Crown Jewel will be going ahead as planned.
Dave Meltzer noted on
Wrestling Observer Radiothat he's been told Vince McMahon will be taking his Superstars over to the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh unless President Donald Trump or the US State Department says otherwise.
Here's the brief quote from Dave on the situation: “What I was actually told was that unless the State Department tells them they can’t go or Donald Trump tells them they can’t go, then they are going.”
This latest development comes in the aftermath of a segment that aired on "Last Week Tonight" with John Oliver on the suspected murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. During the segment, Oliver covered the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia, as well as the relationships certain businesses have entered during the reign of Mohammad bin Salman.
While discussing WWE, clips of April's Greatest Royal Rumble were played with Oliver stating that audiences were treated to "wall-to-wall propaganda." Oliver also did John Cena's
you can't see me
taunt while saying: "in this context means you don't see these human rights abuses right here."
On top of that, Sunday night saw rumours of Crown Jewel being removed from WWE's events page take the internet by storm. They ultimately proved to be false, however, as the show was never there to begin with.