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WWE Crown Jewel is the second pay-per-view which is scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia this year. It’s part of a long-term partnership between the WWE and the KSA.
However, WWE has faced calls to cancel the event, with prominent politicians criticising the company's endeavours in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.
The WWE is now left in two minds, as a cancellation will be a breach of their contract with Saudi Arabia and have legal and other consequences, while continuing the event amid controversy will lower its value back home.
Though the company has yet not announced what it plans to do, with just over 15 days left to the event, it’s evident that they are in deep waters at the moment. Even though they are still advertising the event, they’ve stopped ticket sales on their website, as well as removed the advertised venue from the website.
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If the Crown Jewel event is canceled or moved from Saudi Arabia, there will be losers in the decision. Lets take a look at the biggest ones.
#5 Roman Reigns
Before becoming the Universal Champion, Roman Reigns was all about how Brock Lesnar was a part-time wrestler, didn’t care about the WWE Universe, and wasn’t a fighting champion.
His first defense came right after winning the championship when he gave Finn Balor a chance at a rematch for the title. His last came in a purposeless match against acting-General Manager Baron Corbin.
Today, Roman Reigns wants to defend his title on every episode of Raw, but isn’t able to do so for various reasons. He is involved in a feud with The Shield vs The Dogs of War, and has his next title defense scheduled for Crown Jewel against Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar.
If Crown Jewel is postponed or canceled, all the build-up and the storyline for Roman Reigns will be rendered useless, and he will have to go back to defending the title every Monday Night, or wait for Survivor Series to do so.
#4 Local talent
The Greatest Royal Rumble saw a lot of great matches in Jeddah. The result was a highly successful event in the heart of Saudi Arabia.
The event also gave Saudi Arabia, and the WWE, an opportunity to showcase a few aspiring wrestling stars from the country, introducing them to the fans.
A special segment was hosted for this purpose and a few impressive wrestlers got to introduce themselves during the event, and showcased some moves.
It’s a possibility that a similar segment must have been planned for Crown Jewel to introduce some more local talent. Or perhaps a match had been scheduled for the pre-show involving one of the local wrestlers introduced earlier.
If the event is pulled, then the local wrestlers won’t get the spotlight. It was definitely a good way for the world to see some new unknown wrestlers the WWE has on their radar.
Who knows, maybe the last participant for the WWE World Cup might be a Saudi Arabian.
#3 Kane
The Big Red Monster and the Mayor of Knox County is already torn between the recent happenings in and around Saudi Arabia.
Being a star of the previous generation, there is no doubt Saudi Arabia would lure him with their money as well.
There have even been reports claiming that Kane is still planning to wrestle in Saudi Arabia amid all the tension and controversies, but with the increasing complexity of the issue, will an official representative of the US want to continue with the event?
It’ll be interesting to see whether Kane will risk putting his name on the line by going to Saudi Arabia if Crown Jewel goes ahead as planned, or make time and effort to show up to another venue if it is moved from its original venue.
A cancellation of any one of the four superstars involved in the clash will bring great shame to the WWE, and disappointment for the fans.
#2 Shawn Michaels
The wealth of Saudi Arabia managed to bring a wrestling legend out of retirement after years. Michaels ignored his injuries, age, and rust to perform, because who doesn’t like a big pay cheque?
However, if Crown Jewel is canceled or moved to another country, Michaels will find himself in a very bad position.
We know that the WWE built up DX and The Brothers of Destruction's rivalry for over a month, and used another overseas pay-per-view in Australia to deliver the final punch, bringing two iconic teams back together.
All this was done for Saudi Arabia and the fans there, as it has been noted that they’re still more about the previous generation’s wrestlers than the current ones.
Now that the match-up has been announced, and Michaels’ has stepped out of retirement, will he continue to go with the storyline knowing that there isn’t a treasure chest lying ahead? Or will he have to excuse himself, and put his health before a regular pay cheque?
#1 Brock Lesnar
It seems like Brock is more about money than entertainment. He has retired from MMA twice, before making his third return to the UFC after being the WWE Universal Champion.
He was the second highest paid wrestler in the WWE, just behind John Cena, and worked part-time. Earlier in his career, he’d left the WWE to go into professional football in search of a better deal.
He’d even come forward to comment that he was leaving MMA because he could "work part-time with full-time pay" in the WWE.
Keeping all that in mind, Lesnar was returning to the WWE once again just to be a part of Crown Jewel’s main event because Saudi Arabia showers famous sportsmen with dollars. Now that there is a possibility of Crown Jewel being canceled or moved out of Saudi Arabia, there will be doubt whether The Beast will mark his return or not.
If Crown Jewel is moved out of Saudi Arabia, and the WWE plans to use the same card for another event somewhere else in the world, or in the US, then they will probably have to pay Brock millions out of their own pockets for him to be a part of the Universal Championship match.
If the event is canceled altogether, will we even see Brock Lesnar come back for his rematch for the title at all? It seems unlikely, as it would hinder his training and healing process for his UFC return, and if he doesn’t find it lucrative enough, he won't return for the Universal Championship any time soon.
