NEW YORK: WWE has removed the “Crown Jewel” pay-per-view show, scheduled for November 2 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from its calendar of events, as the disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a former insider turned dissident, continues to unravel.
The WWE has not made a formal announcement or statement in regard to the event, however.
The Crown Jewel event was being put on in partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority and was set to feature a “Universal Championship Triple Threat Match featuring Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman; a WWE Championship Match between AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan; and the first-ever WWE World Cup tournament to determine the best in the world”.
This was the second event as part of a ten-year partnership signed in April between WWE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, following a successful show in the country in April when they held the Greatest Royal Rumble at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
The follow-up was pencilled in for November 2.
But WWE faced calls to cancel the event following the almost certain assassination of Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy premises in Turkey recently.
A WWE statement said: “We are currently monitoring the situation.”
The developments also put a question mark on a friendly match World number 1 Rafael Nadal and Serbian tennis ace and World number 2 Novak Djokovic are scheduled to play as part of the upcoming King Salman Tennis Championship in the kingdom.
The King Salman Tennis Championship match between Nadal and Djokovic is slated to be held on December 22.
