Why did John Cena refuse to wrestle at WWE Crown Jewel in 2018?

WWE's Crown Jewel event would mostly land in hot waters or encounter some problems ever since its inauguration in 2018, just like when John Cena refused to perform that same year due to an incident in Saudi Arabia.

The first-ever Crown Jewel event was held on November 2, 2018, in Riyad, Saudi Arabia. For the occasion, it was announced that the promotion would also host an eight-man single-elimination tournament called the WWE World Cup.

One of the first superstars to participate was John Cena. Stars like Seth Rollins, Kurt Angle, Dolph Ziggler, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, and The Miz were added. Weeks before the event, former acting RAW General Manager Baron Corbin announced that Bobby Lashley would replace Cena, who never even qualified for the tournament in the first place.

As it turns out, John Cena refused to participate at the 2018 Crown Jewel event due to the death of former Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. The journalist first went missing after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in the first week of October 2018. His body was found but he had already passed away, initially reporting it due to a fistfight gone wrong but stated it was due to an assassination.

During the event, Rollins, Ziggler, Mysterio, and The Miz advanced to the Semifinals. Dolph and The A-Lister advanced to the finals, but the latter was unable to compete. Instead, he was replaced by Shane McMahon, who ended up winning the tournament.

Besides John Cena, another superstar was pulled from WWE Crown Jewel 2018 event

Following the 16-time World Champion's removal from the event, there were reports that another star was about to follow. It was later revealed that Daniel Bryan didn't compete at the event either.

The former WWE Superstar was originally scheduled for a WWE Championship match during the event against AJ Styles. Days before the event, the two stars had their title match on an episode of SmackDown where the champion retained.

After the 30-minute match, former WWE Superstar Samoa Joe attacked Styles. A championship match was later made for Crown Jewel 2018, which was won by The Phenomenal One.

This year's Crown Jewel event hasn't been as smooth sailing as well, as there were reports of an attack on Saudi Arabia days before the show. For now, fans are hoping that despite all of this, the show will proceed without any other worries and occur safely.