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Sami Zayn Returning To Saudi Arabia For WWE Crown Jewel

By Lyle Kilbane • Published 31st October 2023
Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn will be heading to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel where he will take the fight to The Judgment Day and their associate.

Sami Zayn has had the year of his career in 2023, starting the year as part of The Bloodline before turning on Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble in a moment that will be remembered for years to come. He subsequently feuded with Reigns and came agonisingly close to dethroning Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber in Zayn’s home city of Montreal.

Zayn then pivoted to his long-time friend Kevin Owens with the two men teaming up to claim the WWE Tag Team Championship in the main event of night one of WrestleMania 39 from The Usos.

At Payback in September, however, things started to go south for Zayn. The Judgment Day pairing of Damian Priest and Finn Balor defeated Zayn and Owens for the gold with more than a little help from the rest of The Judgment Day and JD McDonagh. Things got worse for Zayn when his tag team partner Kevin Owens was sent to SmackDown as a result of Jey Uso’s move to Raw and now he’s going it alone on Monday nights.

Sami Zayn Faces JD McDonagh In Saudi Arabia

WWE has now confirmed that Sami Zayn will be competing on the Kick Off show for Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he goes one-on-one with JD McDonagh.

Sami Zayn had not been part of WWE’s big shows in Saudi Arabia until May of 2023 when he appeared in the country for the first time since 2014 at Night of Champions. Zayn is of Syrian descent and the international relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia were only restored in May 2023, just a few short weeks before Zayn’s Night of Champions appearance.