As pressure continues to mount against WWE to rethink its upcoming Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia, given the events of the past two weeks, WWE is still moving forward with the planned PPV in Riyadh, with build towards the show continuing on Raw this week.
[lawrence-related id=850359]It does appear, however, as if WWE is distancing itself from mentioning the name Saudi Arabia, as the company made no mention of the Crown Jewel event taking place in the country on this week’s episode of Raw. Furthermore, there are very brief references made to the country on WWE.com’s advertisements for the event, which takes place at The King Saud University Stadium, and will be headlined by DX vs The Undertaker and Kane.
According to a new report by Sports Illustrated, numerous WWE stars, acting under the condition of anonymity, have admitted they are not happy with the idea of traveling to Saudi Arabia given the current climate, and the report adds “multiple members of the WWE talent roster have expressed discomfort with the idea of performing in Saudi Arabia, especially given the nation’s poor record with human rights.”
The New York Post later published a follow-up to the SI report, which contained the following statement from WWE on the notion of Superstars feeling uncomfortable traveling to Saudi Arabia.
“As always, we maintain an open line of communication with our performers as we continue to monitor the situation.”
Most recently, more members of the mainstream media and entertainment world have picked up on WWE running Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, with John Oliver taking WWE to task for its ongoing relationship with the country, and the current status of the event taking place on November 2nd.
Despite the above, it appears as if WWE will not be halted by the increasing call to nix the Crown Jewel event, even in the face of top companies such as UFC, and executives such as Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber, Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase and Bill Ford of Ford Motor, all announcing they have canceled upcoming events in Saudi Arabia.
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