WWE Crown Jewel: No Card Is Worth Forgiving The Saudi Arabia Deal

WWE has a stacked show in Saudi Arabia. We still shouldn’t tune in.

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shutdown on a global scale, WWE is returning to Saudi Arabia. The show features a plethora of dream matches. Big E defends the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre. Roman Reigns defends his own Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar. There’s a Hell in a Cell match between Edge and Seth Rollins. Two different tournaments will crown their winner at Crown Jewel. It is a card that is worthy of a major show, maybe even a Wrestlemania.

With all that said, fans still shouldn’t tune in.

There has been so much going on in the world that many are just thrilled to have live wrestling back. Not having fans in the stands was tough for fans and wrestlers. Now that things feel a little more normal, there is an instinct to jump at all the wrestling we can get our hands on. However, we should not let the draw of a good card and the desire to get as much wrestling as possible cloud our judgment.

WWE in Saudi Arabia Controversies

WWE’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s “Saudi Vision 2030” has been fraught with controversies. Before the first Crown Jewel in 2018, Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents in Turkey. The Saudi government covered up information on the assassination and disrupted the justice process, and reports from the US now say that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved of the killing. In protest, many WWE stars didn’t go to the first Crown Jewel. John Cena, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and more did not attend the show. Many politicians called for WWE to cancel the show, but WWE moved ahead with their partnership.

Other wrestlers aren’t able to work the show simply because of who they are. Sami Zayn doesn’t participate due to Saudi Arabia & Syria’s strained relationship. Kevin Owens has declined to work the shows out of his friendship with Zayn. 

Let’s also not forget about the time after the 2019 Crown Jewel event when an entire plane of WWE talent and staff was stopped from leaving the country. Vince McMahon wasn’t paid for the shows in Saudi Arabia so far, so he cut the show feed to the country. That led to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stopping the plane from leaving. WWE blamed the 24-hour delay on “mechanical problems”. First-hand accounts from wrestlers said it felt like they “were being held hostage”.

What did WWE do after the show? They announced an expansion of their partnership. 

Sportwashing & Human Rights

Saudi Vision 2030 is meant to modernize the country, and there have been some firsts and freedoms for women in the country. They’re now able to attend sporting events and get driver’s licenses. However, women still do not have autonomy in the country. Women must still get a male guardian’s permission to marry, leave prison or get certain types of health care.

The LGBTQ+ community in Saudi Arabia lives in fear as well. Being LGBTQ+ in Saudi Arabia is a crime, with same-sex acts punishable by death. How does WWE then square bringing LGBTQ+ wrestlers over to perform a show in a country where their existence is a crime? They instead spin it into historic “firsts”.

At the 2019 Crown Jewel event, Lacey Evans faced Natalya in the first women’s wrestling match in the country. Both women wore full body suits and baggy t-shirts to comply with the country’s rules on modesty in female dress. The match was seen as a historic moment, which is true. The allowance of a women’s wrestling match does not forgive the country’s restriction of women’s rights. Dana Ahmed of Amnesty International described it as “a prime example of how the Saudi Arabian authorities are using elite sports to try to ‘sportswash’ their dire human rights record and image internationally“.

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The sportswashing (countries using sports to draw attention away from human rights issues and improve the image of their country) will continue this year. Two women’s matches are on the card: Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, and Sasha Banks battling for the women’s championship and Doudrop versus Zelina Vega in the finals of the Queen’s Crown tournament. WWE will hold this up as progress and talk up the progressiveness of Saudi Arabia while waiting for the cheque to clear.

That’s what the deal comes down to for WWE. WWE makes around $50 million per event from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For them, that’s enough money to overlook the human rights record. Hell, it’s enough money for them to instead tout the progress of having women’s matches. That’s as much as New Japan makes in a year. It’s hard money for them to pass up.

But you can pass up on watching the product. This isn’t to say stop watching WWE in total. Just be critical of the reasons why WWE is quick to do these events and put more “first-evers” in your face. It’s a financial decision, and you can make your own decision to not support WWE’s decision. Re-create the card in WWE 2K, watch older matches, buy the merch of the wrestlers you love who are still on the show, but think long and hard before tuning in on Thursday. 

Evan Gomes is a freelance pop culture & sports writer. Follow him on Twitter at @ItsEvanGomes, and check out his two podcasts: Crossbody of Work and The Pop Capsule Podcast.