So despite the fact that the US Department of State has raised the travel advisory to Saudi Arabia to basically, don’t fucking go unless you absolutely have to and if you are there, get the fuck out as soon as possible, the WWE appears to still be planning on soldering forward and will proceed to have the Crown Jewel show in Riyadh on November 7th.
Among chats with my bros as well as seeing the chatter on the internet about this unfortunately ongoing situation, it’s very alarming that WWE and their parent company TKO seem to think they’re above danger, and that they should proceed to have a show in a region of the world that has had two airport bombings within the last month alone. The shade and the memes and the shady memes have all been entertaining sure, but it doesn’t change the fact that as the date gets closer and closer, the reality remains that all WWE superstars and personnel hopping on airplanes and flying to Saudi Arabia, their mortality rates probably begin dipping below the average risk of death anywhere else in the world.
At this point, even an outright cancellation doesn’t change the fact that it’s been really unfortunate optics, and a very obvious prioritization of money over human lives, and it’s one of those situations where it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and judge rich people who always want more money, that what could would $90M do if-and-or-when everyone who stands to benefit from it is dead, bombed to oblivion?
Like, I see both sides to the story; reportedly, there is somewhere within the vicinity of $90M for having this show, and cancelling it forfeits all of it. To a lot of the workers that aren’t at that Roman/Cody/Becky tier and really wants and needs to have the purported seven-figure payout for participating in it, that’s a lot of cheese to not get. Furthermore, there are some storylines that seem obvious, but require Crown Jewel to happen in order for them to happen, primarily the two Money in the Bank briefcases, held by Penta and Tiffany Stratton, and despite the biz being one that requires adaptability and flexibility, these seem like circumstances that they don’t want to have to work around unless absolutely forced to, by cancellation.
But in the other hand, fucking death is on the table for showing up to Riyadh next weekend, and all the money in the world becomes worthless if they’re killed in a bomb strike, which I’ve read/imbibed in enough war thrillers to understand that it’s the bomber’s dream to hit a venue filled with thousands of people, when they’re trying to send a global message, and that’s precisely what Crown Jewel is if it happens.
I upped for a month of ESPN Unlimited this month, because I wanted to watch Money in the Bank. After the show, I remarked to mythical wife that what the fuck am I going to do with the rest of this subscription, because the next PLE is strategically placed at the end of November, and I’d have to pay again if I wanted to watch Survivor Series. But I was pleased to see that I’ll be able to utilize it again in order to catch the NXT Halloween Havoc show this coming weekend, and technically it’s still valid next week, when Crown Jewel is supposed to air.
Now I don’t want to see any attacks during the show, but I’d be lying that there isn’t some degree of curiosity to tune in during the show, because 10-30 second tape delay notwithstanding, if something were to occur, like a sudden dropping of broadcast or worse off, actual footage of an explosion taking place, it’s like there’s a crazy curiosity to know if I’d be able to catch it live.
Considering the WWE used to kind of do this in the past with their Tribute to the Troops shows while under the McMahon regime, I get the feeling that unless the US government forces TKO to not go, there’s little reason to believe that the show won’t still go on. The shows in the past all happened without incident, but there’s no denying that all hands on deck had to have been on high alert throughout their stays in the Middle East, and as for the talent and personnel all being out there, it probably was never a comfortable time, knowing just how much civil unrest there was.
All the same, I remarked to my bros as well as a few communities, that I’m assuming that the guys at the top of the WWE/TKO org chart, Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, probably aren’t planning on making the trip out east, and if they were required to do so, then this is probably a non-issue. But if we start seeing odds on potential incidents or superstar deaths on like Kalshi or Polymarket, then shit needs to be ceased immediately, full stop, because I don’t want to hear of Sami Zayn or Tiffany Stratton getting killed, and someone actually getting rewarded monetarily because of it.
Welp, hopefully the pyro at Crown Jewel are not going to be lit, and if it were up to me, then there wouldn’t be any at all, because there just wouldn’t be a goddamn show in the first place. But money talks, and TKO likes money, and who gives a shit about human life if there’s money to be made.
Reason #1,509 why I ask myself why I continue to like professional wrestling. :\