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Once the call to WWE Crown Jewel, the second event of WWE's 10-year contract with Saudi Arabia, was launched, a more pressing question was asked: what would this thing look like? The first Saudi show of the promotion, the April Greatest Royal Rumble, was a frank pro-Saudi propaganda, exploiting even the Sunni-Shia conflict at one point. It was clearly what the Saudis pay. After all, unlike much of their "Vision 2030" plan, the UK deal on WWE is not an investment in society. It was simply to buy a series of shows in the same way as foreign promoters, even on a larger scale. The value for the kingdom in these shows is in propaganda, and Saudi Arabia is in dire need of publicity after murdering and dismembering a dissident journalist and the atrocities of his long proxy war in Yemen. As embarrbading as it may be for the promotion, it seemed like there was no way for the WWE to obtain permission to reduce it in its second show. It was not what they were paid for after all.
Surprisingly, though, the last show was about the opposite of Greatest Royal Rumble. As with other WWE programs in the last two weeks, the words "Saudi Arabia" were never mentioned at the event in this country. "Crown Jewel" has replaced it where the place of the show would normally take place. There was no overtly political content in the show, and for a viewer who was entering a completely cold show, the only really noticeable clue that the show was taking place in an authoritarian monarchy of the gulf was a VIP section filled with men in traditional dress near the ring, Arabic language advertisers in the same suit, and the introduction of Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of the General Authority of Sports, called "his excellence".
Look closer, though, and there was a little more.
Thursday, Twitter accounts (a Arab, a English) from the Saudi General Sports Authority tweeted various videos of wrestlers arriving in the country and giving interviews inspired by the red carpet. The wrestlers, apparently trained, have clearly bothered to refer only to "Saudi fans" and "the Saudi WWE universe," and never to the country or his government. One of the featured wrestlers was Drew McIntyre, who formulated a generic comment ending with "our relationship with the Saudi WWE Universe will simply become as big as possible; To be honest, I do not see any limit. The GSA's Twitter accounts, however, summarized his comments: "The relationship between the Saudi General Sports Authority and WWE will be stronger than before," adding that "the fans here are very interested. . "(Without surprise, the arab account said the same thing.) Even though it was not part of the show, the Saudi royal family was going to have some Propaganda value of this trip.
Watch the show closely, with a keen eye on the changes the royal family may be looking at, and there are some other moments that have come apart. One of them echoed the controversy of the first show in which an advertisement intended solely for television promoting the return to a la carte events representing wrestlers of Raw and SmackDown brands, had been accidentally shown on the stadium's giant screens. Why was it a problem? The wrestlers did not have the right to present themselves at the event, but they were shown in the ad, the lips synchronized with a song while wearing their crown. In the stadium, this inspired many rumors and led to a cruel statement from the Saudi General Sports Authority:
The General Sport Authority would like to apologize to viewers and attendees at the WWE event held last night in Jeddah about the indecent scene involving women that appeared as an advertisement before a segment. He wishes to confirm his total disapproval in this regard, in the shadow of his commitment to eliminate anything that is contrary to the values of the community.
Authorities have sought to prohibit the projection of any segment of the female wrestling or any scene related to it, and have told the company. The authority also disapproved of any promotion containing images or videos showing women in an indecent manner and insisted on the commitment of this rule. And it is a commitment on the part of the authority to engage forever in all its events and programs.
It was a mistake that WWE was clearly determined to no longer commit to Crown Jewel. Where Greatest Royal Rumble did not bring any WWE female member to Saudi Arabia, Renee Young was brought as a presenter for Crown Jewel; unsurprisingly, she was only shown at the presenter's table dressed in a plain, long-sleeved black top. A little later, however, the show aired an advertisement for the Survivor Series event in a few weeks, featuring Zero Woman while the only match announced – and possibly the main event – is Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch. Later, there was an announcement for the date of sale of WrestleMania 35. The ad, which featured the best WWE female stars, was broadcast on Monday evening and SmackDown Live this week and has also been uploaded to the official WWE YouTube Channel. In cold version, the version released on Crown Jewel may have seemed quite normal. Look well, though, and you will realize that there are no female wrestlers in this version. Here is a comparison:
Whether these ads are broadcast in the stadium or not, we do not know, but as what happened was an apparent accident, it is possible that WWE covers all bases. Given the company's current high pressure for its female stars, especially Rousey, and the fact that the "Evolution" women's card was held (not by chance) five days earlier, the surgical removal of the largest Female stars of the promotion revealed that this still was not the case. at all a normal WWE show.
Without Roman Reigns' leukemia diagnosis and the need for a new universal champion in this show – it turned out that Brock Lesnar was disappointing with Braun Strowman – and the return of Shawn Michaels after a retreat of more than 102 months, Crown Jewel would otherwise be considered without incident. Michaels was in excellent shape and did not really look rusty, but the match between Triple H against The Undertaker and Kane was not much outside of Kane's mask and wig who accidentally broke off towards the end. Unless Michaels retires, the most memorable moment of the event will be the most unexpected, for better or for worse.
Crown Jewel was built in part around a "single elimination" global elimination tournament to "determine the best in the world". (WrestleTalk and subscription by Wrestling Observer Information Bulletin announced that the tournament had been called a "World Cup" in a weak attempt to double Qatar, neighboring Saudi Arabia and regional rival, by winning the real The World Cup for 2022.) The final was played between Dolph Ziggler (Raw representative) and The Miz (SmackDown representative) in a battle of villains, which was not what we expected. Miz was injured during their match. We do not know yet if it is legitimate, but he looked like that could be – which led to a TKO win for Ziggler. Then Shane McMahon, the SmackDown Commissioner, rushed to say that it would not end that way. So he took over the game, introduced himself as Ziggler's opponent and … won the tournament.
On any WWE show, this would be strange for a number of reasons. At Crown Jewel, even audible, it was like trolling, not just because World Cup champion Shane McMahon's concept is so awkward.
The foreign party was: Shane had been the promotion on Twitter that his wife, Marisa, herself a former WWE employee, had produced the new movie A private war, which stars Rosamund Pike and Jamie Dornan and was premiered Friday in New York and Los Angeles; it opens all over the country in two weeks. Pike plays journalist Marie Colvin, a war correspondent allegedly murdered by the Syrian government in 2012. The virtues of the film aside, its existence and the moment of its relief have created another strange irony: one big winners. At a paid and organized event by a government that had just murdered a journalist, it was … the only person who could make money from a documentary about a journalist murdered by a Middle Eastern government. It's funny how it works.
David Bixenspan is a freelance writer from Brooklyn, NY, who co-hosts the Between The Sheets podcast every Monday at BetweenTheSheetsPod.com and everywhere else where podcasts are available. You can follow him on Twitter at @davidbix and see his portfolio at Clippings.me/davidbix.
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