In announcing the Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles WWE championship match for Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, WWE quietly moved the Fri., Nov. 2 show from its originally announced venue, King Fahd International Stadium, to a different facility in Riyadh, King Saud University Stadium.
Requests to the company for an explanation or comment haven’t been answered, so we’re left to guess work. And most guesses focus on the size of the stadia. King Fahd is the “Pearl of Stadiums”, and boasts a capacity of 67,000. That could have put Crown Jewel in line with April’s Greatest Royal Rumble in terms of attendance. The university stadium doesn’t have a fancy nickname, and holds approximately 25,000.
Despite the event being less than a month away, tickets have not yet gone on sale. The ins and outs of promotion in the Kingdom aren’t exactly transparent, but the most obvious answer is that local authorities don’t think the demand is there - at any price - at the levels it was for WWE’s first big Saudi show.
Brock Lesnar’s Universal championship rematch against Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns was announced well in advance, and Shawn Michaels’ first in-ring performance in over eight years has been all but openly discussed by WWE.
Will it result in a packed King Saud University Stadium? How empty might King Fahd International Stadium have been if Crown Jewel hadn’t been moved? Was there another reason for the late change? Just a typo?
We’ll let you know if we ever find out. In the meantime, speculate away below.