WWE presents Crown Jewel on November 4th, 2023. This will be the 10th big show that has been broadcast live from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A world apart from the debut event, it’s time to look back at the event that started it all and birthed of the most controversial relationships in wrestling history.
The Show Is Announced:
In March 2018, it was reported that WWE and Saudi Arabia agreed to a relationship that would see shows broadcast in the Kingdom for 10 years* beginning that year. It was also at this time that the first event of the agreement was advertised “The Greatest Royal Rumble” and described by Vince McMahon at the time as “A spectacle of historical proportions.”
When it was announced that the main event would be a 50 man Royal Rumble, fans collectively sighed at a marathon they would be undertaking. There is a reason why 30 is the optimal number to keep fans’ attention and why the 40 man Royal Rumble in 2011 was never repeated.
*It is currently unknown whether or not shows that were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic will see time added on to this deal.
The Problems Begin:
A couple of weeks after the announcement of the show was when backlash started to begin, as it was revealed that due to the customs of Saudi Arabia at the time, women were not allowed to compete on the show. This was a huge step back for a company that was so focused on empowering women’s wrestling back in the United States. In the April 2nd Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer stated the following on the matter:
“There will be no women allowed to wrestle on the show. There are those critical of WWE pushing how much they are behind women wrestling and female empowerment and then doing business with a country where women are treated as second-class and where their women roster members wouldn’t be allowed to perform. But in the end, this is a gigantic money deal over ten years and that trumps just about everything. You can’t expect high morals from a major corporation, and doubly so from a wrestling promoter.”
Attempting to prove how progressive the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was at the time, it was reported on April 18th in the Newsletter that there were strange seating restrictions to get as many women in the crowd as possible:
The only way you can purchase a seat in most of the arena is that your family has to include at least one adult woman.
Ironically, for an event banning women from wrestling it was designed to promote how much more progressive they were as a nation. It should be noted that women were not allowed to drive until June of that year and homosexuality is still illegal. When asked about this prior to the event, Triple H responded to the following in an interview with The Independent:
“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,” Levesque said. “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 affect change anywhere by staying away from it.”
Money Talks:
So why did WWE agree to a 10-year relationship in a country with controversial human rights laws? Because the Saudi Arabian sports committee paid a lot of money, more than anyone could have imagined. According to Wrestlenomics, WWE were paid $50 million to hold the event and have been paid a further $50 million for each subsequent event. For context, WrestleMania 32 generated $17.2 million.
The Show:
Presenting the show as big time from the start, the following speech was delivered in the opening package:
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia invites the world to witness history. An iconic event live from the world class King Abdullah Sports City Stadium. Seven championships will be defended.”
At a near 5 hour runtime, the show took place during a time when WWE presented extra long events which were a marathon for fans to get through. A sell out crowd was announced along with the first of many addresses about how progressive Saudi Arabia has become.
The opening match saw John Cena face Triple H. An unreal amount of pyro went off for each of their entrances. Before the bell it was noted that the temperature in the stadium was 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Cena won the match and afterwards said the following:
“What an honour and a privilege it is to be allowed to be a part of an event like today. Regardless of what is going on in my universe, I was not going to miss this event for anything in the world. I want to send a genuine thank you top the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its unmatched hospitality that extends far beyond this evening and how I want to say once again, thank all of you for allowing me to be a part of something so special. Enjoy the rest of the night.”
It should be noted that Cena would not appear at Saudi shows for a number of years after this, allegedly it could affect his career in Hollywood.
The Cruiserweight Championship between Kalisto and Cedric Alexander was a standard title match from the division. One of the better in-ring matches on the show.
Watching Sheamus and Cesaro fight Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt for the vacant Tag Team Championships after they were vacated by Braun Strowman and a 10 year old is one of the most 2018 WWE sentences that exists. With the sad passing of Bray Wyatt and both Hardy and Cesaro now in AEW, this was a bizarre match to watch 5 years later. Despite the controversial setting, seeing Wyatt smile with a championship in hand will bring a smile and possibly a tear.
Jeff Hardy vs. Jinder Mahal was a house show special match, but Mahal selling a move that missed by a mile was highly amusing.
Byron Saxton threw to another propaganda package, with the message firmly being “Everybody is welcome.” There’s advertising, there’s the hard sell, then there is this.
After a lengthy amount of promo packages, The Usos faced off against the late Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Much like Wyatt, watching someone who was gone far too soon was very bittersweet.
The Intercontinental Championship ladder match was the greatest match on the show with all 4 competitors giving it their all for the Saudi crowd.
A segment used to promote new Saudi Arabian signees was interrupted by the Daivari brothers, who are of Iranian heritage and took issue with the prospective Superstars. Using an ongoing conflict between nations as part of the show was just poor taste.
The WWE Championship match between Styles and Nakamura felt like a placeholder for the anticlimactic feud that began at WrestleMania 34. Doing nothing more than to extend the feud a little longer, the match was there to have a major title match on the card and lead to the Last Man Standing match at Money in the Bank.
The match with the strangest build, The Undertaker was originally billed to face Rusev in a casket match. However, Rusev was then replaced by Jericho and then replaced by Rusev once again days before the show. In what would be the start of The Undertaker’s second retirement tour, the spectacle of The Deadman making his entrance is always special and Taker did move well, but once again this was a match more about the style than the substance.
The cage match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns was very by the numbers. Multiple suplexes and a dud ending, where it could be argued that Reigns actually won the match.
The Main Event:
It was then time for the event that the show was marketed around, the 50-man Royal Rumble. While one positive was Daniel Bryan lasting for 1 hour 16 minutes shortly after coming back out of retirement, the match itself felt rather exhausting and ultimately pointless.
To fill out the card, various legends, NXT Superstars and surprises were utilised. One notable inclusion was Hiroki Sumi, who was rumoured to be a part of the match for a very odd reason. Reports claimed that the Saudi Arabian prince requested Yokozuna be a part of the show, even though the former WWE Champion passed away in the year 2000. Allegedly, Vince McMahon made the decision to have someone who he thought looked like Yokozuna added to the Rumble for this reason. The Prince also allegedly requested The Ultimate Warrior, who passed away in 2014.
With 50 Superstars to get through, many wrestlers saw very short times actually in the match. Considering the high pay-outs that the stars received for their participation, many wouldn’t mind the bonus for 2 minutes of work.
Of course Titus O’Neil deserves an honorary mention. Tripping on his entrance and falling under the ring, the unexpected moment will make you laugh every time you see it and will always be the thing that fans remember the Hall of Famer the most for.
The match was won by Braun Strowman, who received a trophy and a custom championship. However, less than a week later and all was forgotten. The title was never referenced on American TV and Saudi Arabia never held a second Royal Rumble, meaning that the title was effectively meaningless.
It should also be mentioned that even though it was only 5 years ago, only 13 of the 50 entrants never left/were released from WWE and remain a part of the roster today [Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Drew Gulak, Robert Roode, Chad Gable, Rey Mysterio, Big E, Apollo Crews, Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, Titus O’Neil, Bobby Lashley and Kevin Owens].
The Apology:
The controversy did not end when all was said and done. The WWE feed showed a promotional video package for both brands being featured on major shows, with various Superstars singing “The Best of Both Worlds.” With women seen in the advertisement and not dressed appropriately for Saudi Arabia broadcast, the General Sports Authority issues the following apology shortly afterwards:
“The General Sport Authority would like to apologize to the viewers and attendees of last night’s WWE event that took place in Jeddah, over the indecent scene involving women that appeared as an ad before a segment. It would like to confirm it’s total disapproval of this, in the shadow of its commitment to eliminate anything that goes against the communities values.
The authority has made sure to ban showing of any segment that involves women wrestling or any scenes related to it, and stipulated that to the company (WWE). The authority also disapproved any promotional stuff with pictures or videos showing women in an indecent way, and emphasized on commitment of this rule. And it’s a commitment that the authority would still commit to forever in all of it’s events and programs.”
The Ratings:
In-ring wise, the show was not well received with no matches getting a rating of 4* or higher. As reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the ratings for the matches were as follows:
- John Cena defeated Triple H – **3/4
- Cedric Alexander defeated Kalisto to retain the Cruiserweight Championship – ***1/2
- Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt defeated Sheamus and Cesaro to win the Raw tag Team Championship – **
- Jeff Hardy defeated Jinder Mahal to retain the United States Championship – 1/2*
- Luke Harper and Erick Rowan defeated The Usos to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championships – **
- Seth Rollins defeated Samoa Joe, The Miz and Finn Balor in a ladder match to retain the Intercontinental Championship – ***3/4
- AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura went to a double count-out – ***1/4
- The Undertaker defeated Rusev in a casket match – **
- Brock Lesnar defeated Roman Reigns to retain the Universal Championship – *
- Braun Strowman won the 50 man Greatest Royal Rumble – ***1/4
The Aftermath
While the exclusion of women from the card in Saudi Arabia will always be a sticking point for a lot of fans, WWE did do their best to highlight the women’s division more back in the United States. With Ronda Rousey a part of the roster at the time the women’s matches were getting more of a spotlight and the rise of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair to the next level gave the division more of the spotlight than ever before.
In October 2018, WWE presented Evolution, an all-female pay-per-view and one of the better shows of the year. It should be noted that Evolution did take place 1 week before Crown Jewel, the second Saudi Arabia show and another event with no women’s matches. However, WrestleMania 35 would see an all-female main event for the first time in WWE history, much to the delight of the WWE Universe.
Crown Jewel 2019 would see the first women’s match take place on a WWE Saudi Arabia show as Natalya defeated Lacey Evans. This would set the precedent for all subsequent Saudi Arabia shows, highlighting the progression of the country compared to the 2018 show. With each show, women’s wrestling has been presented more and more, with 7 female Superstars set to compete at Crown Jewel 2023.
WWE no longer treats their Saudi shows like the world’s biggest house show. Matches are not too over the top, legends are barely used and the Kingdom has even hosted the annual event Elimination Chamber. With the 10th event airing on November 4th, it really is a new era for WWE in Saudi Arabia and a huge progression from where it all began.
Featured image: WWE
