WWE Forced Into Major Show Change By Saudi Arabia
A former WWE employee has claimed Saudi Arabia forced the company to abandon plans for a huge show in the country, demanding something bigger instead.
In 2023 it seemed that WWE was set to host a show based around the King & Queen of the Ring tournaments in Saudi Arabia. The King of the Ring and Queen’s Crown tournaments had been part of the 2021 Crown Jewel show but it seemed that WWE’s hosts were not ready for a show dedicated to the concept and pushed for something else instead.
Night of Champions took place in the country instead in May 2023 with Seth Rollins defeating AJ Styles in the final of the tournament for the newly introduced World Heavyweight Championship.
Saudi Arabia Nixed WWE’s Original Plan For King & Queen Of The Ring
Speaking on The Wrestling Matt, former WWE host Matt Camp lifted the lid on the situation and noted the Saudis were insistent WWE change their plans for them:
When they did Night of Champions last year and Seth won the World Heavyweight Championship, that was supposed to be, from what I was told, a King & Queen of the Ring tournament, they were bringing it back.
And for whatever reason, it wasn’t – quote – ‘big enough’. And instead we got Night of Champions and we got Seth winning the World Championship. I’m not gonna say that wasn’t the plan, but they definitely wanted to make it more, and that was, from what I was told, a Saudi insistence if you will. Let’s call it that.
So we got AJ and Seth and we had the World Title and all that stuff. I don’t know if it was because of who was gonna be in King & Queen of the Ring or whatever it was, but there was a pivot there. So that has happened before.
Camp continued by referencing a famous story where the Saudis in charge of the deal with WWE wanted long-lost stars such as Yokozuna to be part of the Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018 and thought the Crown Jewel Championship was another concession to them:
I think you’ve all heard the story, for that battle royal (Greatest Royal Rumble), they wanted wrestlers who were deceased. They couldn’t get Yokozuna, they got that random sumo guy. That kind of stuff has happened. And I do wonder, while we’ve had a Crown Jewel, this November show, for years now, if it was, ‘Hey we want it to be bigger’. ‘Okay, here’s the Crown Jewel Championship and it only gets fought for in Saudi Arabia.’
WWE and Saudi Arabia are in a ten-year deal that runs until 2027 to bring major shows to the country twice a year. That deal is believed to be worth $500 million to the sports entertainment giant which might explain why they are suggestible to their host’s wishes.
The King & Queen of the Ring did take place as its own show in Saudi Arabia in 2024 with Gunther and Nia Jax winning the respective tournaments that came with a guaranteed shot at championship gold at SummerSlam.
Both Gunther and Jax won championships at SummerSlam meaning they are now both in the frame to win the newly-minted Crown Jewel Championship at Crown Jewel on November 2nd.