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Maybe WWE was never really that close to cancelling Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
Now less than a day away from the controversial event, the WWE is still dealing with the cloud that has been hovering over the event since the day it was announced.
A new report suggests the WWE weighed plenty of options for Crown Jewel but canceling the show on their own accord was not one of them. In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required and encouraged) Dave Meltzer reports on what went into Vince McMahon’s viewpoint on running Crown Jewel on Nov. 2.
“WWE was never going to cancel the show on its own. The decision came down to would they be told by people in the government that they couldn’t go, or shouldn’t go. And that was a strong concern. Last week, top company officials were told that it was less than 50 percent that the show would take place in Saudi Arabia, and that Vince McMahon was expected to be outright told he shouldn’t, or even couldn’t go.”
Meltzer continues:
“But from his standpoint, there were nine more years of the deal in place, worth $400 million, that he would be risking if he didn’t go. Even if he was told he couldn’t go, he was trying to reach an assurance that if he wasn’t allowed, that when the controversy over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi ran its course, that he could go in a few weeks, Ultimately, late on 10/24, he got the word that it would be up to him, and told people who needed to know that the show was on”
With WWE executives still fielding questions on Crown Jewel for the past few months, this report comes as somewhat of a surprise. Doubling down on controversy, late in the week the WWE even added Hulk Hogan as the special guest host for Saudi Arabia event.
The WWE locker room seems to be still torn on if they should working the show, with John Cena and Daniel Bryan already pulling themselves from the card.
After what feels like over two months of controversy and fair share of will they/won’t they, if this report holds true it looks the WWE’s only back-up plan was to reschedule Crown Jewel at a later date in Saudi Arabia.