List of WWE wrestlers who won’t work Saudi show grows to four

It’s far short of a full-scale revolt. The lure of five, six and in some cases seven figure paydays is strong. Less cynically, many on WWE’s roster may believe that by appearing on a sports entertainment show in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, they are helping bring change to the Middle Eastern nation.

Regardless, reports indicate there are now four wrestlers who won’t be working June 7’s Super ShowDown in Jeddah. In one case, it appears to have impacted the card.

As we passed along this morning, Fightful reported Kevin Owens told the company he won’t be making the trip. John Pollock of Post Wrestling followed up with confirmation that Owens’ friend Sami Zayn won’t be working the show, due to Zayn’s Syrian heritage and issues that raised in Saudi Arabia (Sami didn’t appear or wrestle on either of WWE’s 2018 events in the KSA for the same reason).

Pollock also brought word that Aleister Black isn’t headed to Jeddah, and confirmed Daniel Bryan will be skipping his second straight Saudi event after working last April’s Greatest Royal Rumble.

The report on Bryan first came from Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, who also speculated that the loss of Kofi Kingston’s last two WWE title challengers in DB and KO led to the surprise return of Dolph Ziggler as Kingston’s Super ShowDown opponent.

Have others opted out of WWE’s third show on their ten year deal with the KSA? We’ll pass along word when and if we hear about it.