While WWE is still monitoring things, more reports are coming out that John Cena won’t be working Crown Jewel if it happens in Saudi Arabia. Whether it’s because of Cena or the fact the international situation seems more volatile now than at any point since journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2, those reports also make it seem more likely the Nov. 2 pay-per-view (PPV) won’t happen - at least not as originally planned.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer relayed what he’s heard regarding reports Cena informed WWE officials he wouldn’t work Crown Jewel, and the overall status of the event:
“So, the Saudi Arabia show is very much in jeopardy. As far as what’s going to happen, there has been... there’s only a few people that could get Vince... Vince was adamant about doing the show. ... They’ll pull out if they have to pull out but it was going to take a lot to pull them out. I was told it would take, you know, [President Donald] Trump or government officials and there is something in that thing that’s out there. That’s why tickets didn’t go on sale on Friday. The decision has not been made but it’s a lot less than it was a week ago when they were pretty gung ho on doing the show. It’s in jeopardy from outside forces that are pretty much... again, I don’t know the exact dialogue but there’s absolutely pressure for him not to go now.
I do know that in the afternoon that creative was told that John Cena was not going to be on the show and that he needed to be replaced in the tournament. Obviously, if you watched the show, during the Kurt Angle segment I was waiting and there was John Cena being advertised. So, did something change? Did they just go with the idea that ‘well, if we do it somewhere else then we can have him go?’ So I don’t know what’s going on with him.”
Meltzer says he wasn’t able to confirm anything regarding the report Daniel Bryan was also “refusing” to work the show if it remained in Riyadh. Another source, WrestleVotes, which largely corroborates the Observer version similarly focuses on Cena:
I don’t know how or when, but John Cena has told WWE he won’t be appearing at Crown Jewel. I’ve heard the show is back in “wait and see mode.” This is a mess. https://t.co/qaIC9jvv6N
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) October 23, 2018
Asked why Cena still appeared in World Cup promos last night, source said could be because they’d like Cena to reconsider his decision ( ), or if they end up moving locations, he would end up being apart of the event.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) October 23, 2018
WWE will have another chance to reveal changes to the show or continue forging ahead when SmackDown airs tonight. The Oct. 23 episode is promoting two segments tied to Crown Jewel - a tag match featuring Bryan and his planned opponent for next Friday, WWE champ AJ Styles, and a Miz TV which will focus on at least two of Cena’s fellow World Cup entrants, host The Miz, and Rey Mysterio.
Will they continue to stay the course? We’ll find out.
UPDATE - Robbie Fox from Barstool, who got the ball rolling on this latest round of reports regarding Cena and the status of Crown Jewel, provided this update a short time ago:
UPDATE: WWE is currently in the process of frantically scouting locations to move Crown Jewel to. This is NOT definite confirmation that it's out of Saudi Arabia, but the location and date are unquestionably in major jeopardy right now.
— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) October 23, 2018