Saudi Arabia Demanded WWE Add More Women To Show

Triple H made an interesting claim ahead of WWE Crown Jewel.

When WWE stuck its initial ten-year partnership with Saudi Arabia in 2018, it was prevented from using its female stars in the Kingdom. However, that changed in 2019 when Natalya defeated Lacey Evans in the first-ever women’s match in Saudi Arabia history.

Since then, women have continued to appear on all Saudi Premium Live Events, albeit in modified ring gear.

At the most recent event, Crown Jewel, Liv Morgan defeated Nia Jax to win the Crown Jewel Championship. Meanwhile, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill retained the Women’s Tag Team Titles with a win over Damage CTRL, Meta-Four, and Chelsea Green & Piper Niven.

Triple H Praises WWE/Saudi Arabia Relationship

In an interview broadcast on the Crown Jewel pre-show Triple H discussed the controversial partnership between WWE and Saudi Arabia. The Game said he was delighted with how the relationship had progressed, claiming the Kingdom had requested more female performers be added to the show.

We love this partnership here. This all stems from His Excellency’s vision to bring the best entertainment from around the world. You know, when we first started here, I think fans were excited, but they didn’t know what to necessarily expect. And over that time, I’ve seen that change exponentially.

We had the first women’s match here in Saudi Arabia. It went from us asking, “Can we bring women here” to them being on billboards all over the city, to the GEA [General Entertainment Authority] and His Excellency calling us and saying, “I don’t feel like there’s enough women on this show. Can we have more women put into the show?”

It speaks to the progress here in Saudi Arabia, but it speaks to the fan base, and it speaks to the power of WWE as a truly global brand.

The deal between Saudi Arabia and the sports entertainment giant continues to draw a huge amount of criticism given Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record, allegations of sportswashing, and political tension stemming from the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In recent months, Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in hosting a major Premium Live Event such as the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania.

H/t to POST Wrestling