How close were we to seeing a match between Alexa Bliss and Natalya in Jeddah at Super ShowDown yesterday (June 7)?
It seems WWE officials thought we were really close, which is why they flew the women to Saudi Arabia. But even then they were hedging their bets, which is why they didn’t promote a match despite allegedly being given the go ahead by Saudi officials.
Here’s what Dave Meltzer reported about the situation on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio:
“They flew there and they were hoping to wrestle and the government - I don’t understand, but again, I’m not dealing with that government, so... I know they were told that it was gonna be okay, and it was going back and forth, and they couldn’t advertise it, cause if they advertised it and somehow there was a snag, they’d look really, really bad.
So for whatever reason, obviously they thought that they were gonna get it done - enough to fly Alexa Bliss and Natalya over there. And they flew them over there, and not only weren’t they allowed to wrestle, but they were not allowed to be on the show, say that they’re someday gonna be allowed to wrestle - anything. So, yeah, that was what happened there.”
Difficult to read any of this as a sign for optimism the women will eventually be allowed to perform in the Kingdom. If it was possible in the near-term, you’d think they might have found a way to use Alexa or Nattie in some capacity yesterday.
And if Meltzer is correct, even if they get a green light in advance, that doesn’t guarantee a match will be allowed to happen.
It seems WWE and Saudi Arabia are still where they were before word came out Bliss and Natalya were flying to the country - with the company wanting to have (and promote) a historic women’s match, and government officials not ready to allow one.