On Friday, WWE Crown Jewel will take place in Saudi Arabia as part of Saudi Vision 2030. I was quite surprised that they're hosting another event in the country in the same year as they hosted The Greatest Royal Rumble. I've had my concerns about the WWE hosting events there however, I was ok with it if it led to Saudi Arabia being more tolerant towards Western culture in the future. There were quite a few things that have bothered me about the event, especially as it's taking place 5 days after WWE Evolution, their first ever all women's Pay-Per-View. From a kayfabe standpoint, it did bother me that they seemed to be focused more on Crown Jewel than Evolution. However, recent events have put a massive elephant in the room.
Jamal Khashoggi. a journalist and Saudi dissent, was believed to have been murdered when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Despite initial denails, the Saudi government admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a fight. It is believed that the murder was premediated and it's possible that high level members of the Saudi Royal Family were involved in the planning. A report yesterday suggested that Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Consulate.
In the United States, this has led to politicians from both the Democrats and Republicans to call on WWE to cancel the event. The company has political connections as well as commerical. Linda McMahon is the Administrator of the Small Business Administration and Glenn Jacobs, who wrestles as Kane, is the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. Despite the criticism, WWE have chosen to do the event citing "contractual obligations".
WWE's deal is worth 450-500 million dollars over 10 years so a part of me can understand them not wanting to suffer the financial consequences. However, the Saudi government have been made it clear that they are not going to change as much as we thought they would. Add the fact that the Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman is believed to be the one who approved the murder and it seems that WWE are happy to be a part of blatant pro-Saudi propaganda. WWE choosing to do this is a dark day and they have chosen money over basic morality and that is troubling to see. I feel sorry for the wrestlers involved in this. John Cena and Daniel Bryan will be not taking part but they are a big enough name to do that. The other wrestlers might feel like they have to take part.
I thought a long time about whether I will watch the show and I decided that I will. Part of me feels like I'm supporting the Saudis in doing that. However, I will be watching partly out of interest to see how WWE handle the show. Hopefully, there will be no pre-show and they will try to make the event as short as possible. If you're angry about what the WWE have done, all I ask that you don't take it out on the wrestlers. Most of them would feel that they are stuck between a rock and a hard place and would probably wish that they weren't there.
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