Blood money or striving for change?
March 5th, 2018. This is the day that WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority announced a multi-year partnership that would see Saudi Arabia host PPV’s. In 2019, this partnership was revealed to run until 2027. This announcement brought about much controversy (with more to follow) but WWE held firm and announced that the first big event would be called – The Greatest Royal Rumble and would be held in Jeddah on April 27th, 2018.
The Greatest Royal Rumble – April 27th, 2018
The first big event that WWE held was The Greatest Royal Rumble. The event was comprised of ten matches and would culminate in the biggest Royal Rumble match ever with 50 participants.
The co-main event was the match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns for the Universal Title inside a steel cage.
The event was packed from top to bottom and was the biggest event outside of a WrestleMania, for star power. This event even saw the return of the Undertaker. 60,000 fans packed into the King Abdullah International Stadium for the event.
The Card
- John Cena defeated HHH
- Cedric Alexander defeated Kalisto, retaining the Cruiserweight Championship
- Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy defeated Cesaro and Sheamus for the vacant Raw Tag Team Championships
- Jeff Hardy defeated Jinder Mahal, retaining the US Championship
- The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The Usos, retaining the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
- Seth Rollins defeated The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe in a ladder match, retaining the Intercontinental Championship
- AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship ended in a double count-out.
- The Undertaker defeated Rusev in a casket match
- Brock Lesnar defeated Roman Reigns in a cage match, retaining the Universal Championship
- Braun Strowman won the 50 man Greatest Royal Rumble Match
What strikes me is the amount of time each match went. Five of these matches were under ten minutes, including the casket match and the cage match. I suppose they had to balance it out with the Rumble match lasting a whopping one hour and seventeen minutes.
WWE were facing criticism about the lack of female talent on the show, due to Saudi’s laws and beliefs. Triple H, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative, responded to the criticism: “I understand that people are questioning it, but you have to understand that every culture is different and just because you don’t agree with a certain aspect of it, it doesn’t mean it’s not a relevant culture…You can’t dictate to a country or a religion about how they handle things but, having said that, WWE is at the forefront of a women’s evolution in the world and what you can’t do is effect change anywhere by staying away from it….While women are not competing in the event, we have had discussions about that and hope that, in the next few years they will be.”
Events
| Event | Date |
| Greatest Royal Rumble | Apr 27th, 2018 |
| Crown Jewel | Nov 2nd, 2018 |
| Super Showdown | Jun 7th, 2019 |
| Crown Jewel | Oct 31st, 2019 |
| Super Showdown | Feb 27th, 2020 |
| Crown Jewel | Oct 21st, 2021 |
| Elimination Chamber | Feb 19th, 2022 |
| Crown Jewel | Nov 5th, 2022 |
| Night of Champions | May 27th, 2023 |
| Crown Jewel | Nov 4th, 2023 |
It has been reported that WWE receives around $50 million per show in the country.
Stars Refusing To Appear
There have been a few superstars who have decided not to appear in the Saudi Arabia shows, for one reason or another.
Sami Zayn did not attend any of the Saudi shows because of his Syrian descent and Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic tension with Syria. To show solidarity with his best friend, Kevin Owens also refused to work these shows. Once tensions improved, both Sami and Kevin attended events in Saudi – starting in May 2023 at Night of Champions. Other stars who refused to go to Saudi included Aleister Black and Noam Dar.
After the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns did not attend the next Saudi event (Crown Jewel, 2018). The murder garnered worldwide condemnation and could not have come at a worse time for WWE as they had their Crown Jewel PPV scheduled just weeks after. Despite an avalanche of criticism, WWE went on with the show.
The Women of WWE
It has taken some time, but finally WWE’s women are allowed to compete in Saudi Arabia. The history-making moment happened at 2019’s Crown Jewel PPV between Natalya and Lacey Evans. Both women had to wear clothes that would conceal their skin during the match.
WWE’s Stephanie Mcmahon stated in an interview: “You can either sit on the sidelines and there are plenty of companies and brands that decide to do that or you can be a part of hopefully enacting change. You can be a part of progress. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. It takes time. It takes perseverance. Now here we are with the first ever women’s match in Saudi Arabia. It’s pretty mind blowing.”
Some media outlets had criticism of this, with Saudi Arabian Amnesty International researcher Dana Ahmed calling the match “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”.
There have been many more women’s matches in Saudi Arabia since this ground-breaking match:
- Lacey Evans vs. Natalya (Crown Jewel 2019)
- Bayley vs. Naomi – SmackDown Women’s Championship (Super Showdown 2020)
- Doudrop vs. Zelina Vega – The Queen’s Tournament (Crown Jewel 2021)
- Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks – SmackDown Women’s Championship (Crown Jewel 2021)
- Naomi and Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville (Elimination Chamber 2022)
- Becky Lynch vs. Lita – RAW Women’s Championship (Elimination Chamber 2022)
- Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair vs. Liv Morgan vs. Doudrop vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki A.S.H – Women’s Elimination Chamber Match (Elimination Chamber 2022)
- Bianca Belair vs. Bayley – Last Woman Standing Match/RAW Women’s Championship (Crown Jewel 2022)
There have been some social reforms in the country – allowing women to get passports and live independently without the permission of a male guardian.
However, women still face heavy restrictions. From clothing, make-up, mixing with men, abortion rights (women need a males permission) and restrictions on family life. Saudi Arabia still has a long way to go.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading.
Catch more editorials here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.