Saudi Arabia had previously been visited by professional wrestling tours - one such tour in 1986 includedTony St. Clair.[8] Other wrestlers who performed on shows in Saudi Arabia included Greek starGeorgios Tromaras in 1990.[9]
In December 2013, it was announced that WWE would begin holding shows in Saudi Arabia,[10] and in April 2014, the promotion held their first house shows inRiyadh;[11] these were three separate shows at Green Halls Stadium.[12] In October 2015, WWE held three house shows inJeddah, at theKing Abdullah Sports City Sports Hall.[13][14] In November 2016, WWE returned to Green Halls Stadium for two non-televised events,[15] which exclusively featured wrestlers from theSmackDown brand.[16] In 2017, WWE launched the Arabic-languagerecap show,WWE Wal3ooha, which airs in Saudi Arabia.[17] These events were organized in collaboration with Time Entertainment, a Saudi events company led at the time by CEO Héctor Alegre.[18][19][20]
WWE announced on November 4, 2019, that it had "expanded" its partnership with theGeneral Entertainment Authority through 2027, under which it would hold two "large-scale events" in Saudi Arabia per-year.[25] In addition,Riyadh Season, an entertainment festival that launched in October 2019 also organized by the General Entertainment Authority, would begin hosting the annualCrown Jewel event, as well as WWE Experience, an indoor theme park themed around WWE (named afterits former syndicated television program), which launched during the 2023 season and officially opened on February 16, 2024. It was the first WWE theme park since the 2011 closure of the formerWWE Niagara Falls.[26]
Since the beginning of the agreement, two PPV and livestreaming events have been held in Saudi Arabia annually. One is held in the first half of the year typically in Jeddah and usually within an existing WWE event chronology, while an annual event known asCrown Jewel was held in late October–early November in Riyadh as part ofRiyadh Season. WWE's first major event in Saudi Arabia wasGreatest Royal Rumble—a one-off special version of WWE's annualRoyal Rumble—on April 27, 2018. Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and WWE's suspension of touring, the Saudi events were suspended afterSuper ShowDown in February 2020 and returned withCrown Jewel in 2021.[27] The 2025 calendar year will only have one event in Saudi Arabia as 2026 will have three events, starting with the2026 Royal Rumble, which will be held as part of that year's 2025–2026 Riyadh Season and the first of WWE's "Big Five" events to be held in the country. In 2027, Saudi Arabia will hostWrestleMania 43, the first WrestleMania held outside of North America, as part of that year's 2026-27 Riyadh Season.
This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(August 2025)
Since January 2025, WWE televised events includingRaw andSmackDown are broadcast in Saudi Arabia onNetflix, as part of the global WWE-Netflix deal.[28]
WWE received criticism for holding the events without female wrestlers, who were unable to perform in Saudi Arabia between 2014 and 2019, due to thecountry's limitation on women's rights.[29]Triple H, WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative, stated: "I understand people are questioning it, but every culture is different and just because you don’t agree with a certain aspect of it, you can’t dictate to a country about how they handle things... WWE is at the forefront of a women’s evolution in the world [and] we have had discussions about [women competing] and hope in the next few years, they will".[29]
Consistent with the change in law for sporting events in 2017,[30] women were able to attend WWE events ifaccompanied by a male guardian.[29] This was in response to "a series of social changes" by Crown PrinceMohammad bin Salman,[31] who repealed the previous legislation completely banning women from public events. During theGreatest Royal Rumble, WWE aired a promotional video which included female wrestlers in their ring gear. The Saudi General Sports Authority issued an apology for "indecent material" that aired at the event.[32]
During the secondCrown Jewel event in 2018,Renee Young provided commentary at the show; she reprised her role at 2019'sSuper ShowDown.[33] Hours before 2019's Super ShowDown, reports emerged that WWE were attempting to add a women's match, which would have seenAlexa Bliss faceNatalya. The two women joined WWE personnel for the trip, but the match was ultimately rejected by theSaudi Arabian government.[34][35]
On October 30, 2019, WWE announced that a match between Natalya andLacey Evans had been approved for the 2019Crown Jewel event, making it the first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. At the event, Evans wore a full bodysuit instead of her normal ring attire (Natalya's normal ring attire is a full bodysuit) and both wore T-shirts promoting their WWE shirts for sale, due to the country's conservative dress policy.[36] WWE largely celebrated the match as groundbreaking, which they later nominated for aWWE Year-End Award forMoment of the Year, with WWECBOStephanie McMahon stating in an interview: "You can either sit on the sidelines and there are plenty of companies and brands that decide to do that or you can be a part of hopefully enacting change. You can be a part of progress. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. It takes time. It takes perseverance. Now here we are with the first ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. It's pretty mind blowing."[37][38]
However, reactions from other media outlets were mixed. While some were positive, such asHeavy.com, who stated that the match was "put in place to break barriers and further WWE's 'Women’s Evolution' for the proud ladies in attendance and watching all over the world. And for that, I have to give it the utmost props", orCanoe.com who stated that "The historic match was about and meant so much more [than its result]."[39][40]Newsweek called the match part of "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's [intent on] luring major sports event [...] to position the ultra-conservative Islamic country as more liberal and diversify its economy away from depending on the oil industry as part of its Saudi Vision 2030 plan", with Saudi ArabianAmnesty International researcher Dana Ahmed calling the match "a prime example how the Saudi Arabian authorities are using elite sports to try to 'sportswash' their dire human rights record and image internationally".[41]CBS Sports criticizedMichael Cole's commentary, pointing out that he was "trying to put over the progressiveness of Saudi Arabia" during the match.[42]
One month prior to the 2018 edition of Crown Jewel, Saudi Arabia received substantial negative press due to thekilling of Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents. This led to the WWE facing calls to cancel the event, with prominent U.S.Democratic andRepublican politicians criticizing the company's endeavors in Saudi Arabia.[45] Questions were raised whether because of the position of then-Administrator of the Small Business AdministrationLinda McMahon, who is married to the WWE ChairmanVince McMahon and a former WWE executive herself, WWE's endeavors in Saudi Arabia could still be viewed as a strictly private business enterprise. Due to this, Democratic SenatorBob Menendez urged the US government to pressure WWE into canceling the event, while RepublicanLindsey Graham, among others, called for WWE to reconsider their business deal with the Saudi kingdom.[46] WWE continued to promote the show, but erased all references to Saudi Arabia as the event's location.[47]
On October 19, the day tickets were to go on sale, the Saudi government confirmed the death of Khashoggi within the consulate and WWE.com removed ticket information from the event page.[48] On October 25, WWE confirmed the event would go on as planned, citing contractual obligations to the General Sports Authority.[49] Speaking withSky Sports on pushing forward with the event despite the murder, Stephanie McMahon spoke of "an incredibly tough decision, given that heinous act", but said that in the end it was strictly a business decision.[50]
During Crown Jewel (2018),Daniel Bryan was scheduled to faceAJ Styles for theWWE Championship, but he refused to work the show due to the Khashoggi murder.[53][54] As a result, his title match was bumped up to the October 30 episode ofSmackDown, and he was replaced bySamoa Joe.John Cena, who was scheduled to participate in theWWE World Cup at the event and had called it "an honor and a privilege" to compete in Saudi Arabia during the Greatest Royal Rumble, was replaced byBobby Lashley, as he reportedly refused to work the show in wake of the Khashoggi murder.[55][56][57] In February 2019,Fightful reported that prior to hisleukemia diagnosis,Roman Reigns had informedVince McMahon that he also would not be taking part in the Crown Jewel PPV due to the controversy surrounding the event.[58]
In 2019 for Super ShowDown,Kevin Owens andAleister Black told WWE that they would not travel to Saudi Arabia, in addition to Zayn and Bryan once again not competing on the show.[59][60] Kevin Owen's refusal to work the show allegedly comes from his friendship with Sami Zayn.[61] As a result of his absence, he was replaced in the WWE Championship match byDolph Ziggler.
Despite Dar not participating in the Saudi Arabia shows due to the Arab–Israeli conflict,Goldberg andPaul Heyman have worked multiple Saudi Arabia shows without incident despite both beingJewish and in Heyman's case his own mother having been aHolocaustsurvivor. Goldberg would go on to defend WWE on the shows following his victory overBobby Lashley at the2021 Crown Jewel, saying that he feels the country is heading in the right direction in "Westernizing" the country and the Middle East region as a whole, citing the progress just in WWE's shows alone in the Kingdom.[62] Goldberg did, however, later admit onThe Pat McAfee Show that he was initially scared to go to Saudi Arabia due to his strong Jewish heritage, but felt more comfortable after receiving a positive response from the Saudi fans and understood the bigger picture of the shows.[63]
AfterSaudi Arabia–Syria relations were re-established in May 2023, Zayn and Owens were scheduled to perform atNight of Champions later that month in Jeddah.[66] This was in turn Zayn's first Saudi event since a WWE Live tour in April 2014 and Owens' first Saudi event since Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018.[67]
After Crown Jewel in 2019, a charter flight back to the United States carrying roughly 200 WWE employees (including performers and other staff) was delayed atKing Fahd International Airport for multiple hours. WWE and the airlineAtlas Air officially stated that the flight had been grounded for mechanical issues,[68][69] but reports from former WWE Spanish-language commentatorHugo Savinovich and wrestling journalistDave Meltzer suggested that disputes with the Saudi government over missed payments to WWE for the previous shows were a factor in the delays (including the presence of Saudi military police).[68][70] 20 WWE employees, including CEOVince McMahon and 12 wrestlers, booked their own flights back to the United States,[68][70] while the following night'sSmackDown in Buffalo was retooled to primarily feature talent from the women's division andNXT (which did not participate in the event).[71][72]
On March 6, 2020, a retirement fund for firefighters filed a lawsuit against WWE in theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York, stemming from concerns related to the fund's holding of WWE stock. According toForbes, it is "an attempt at class action alleging that WWE defrauded investors via its handling of their deals with the Saudi royal family, who also controlOSN, the network that airs WWE programming in Saudi Arabia." The lawsuit claims that the Saudi Arabian government failed to pay WWE millions of dollars owed from their deal with the company, that WWE's failed to disclose said payment issues and that OSN unlawfully terminated a broadcast deal with WWE.[73]
DefeatedRaw'sDoudrop in the tournament final to become the inaugural Queen's Crown tournament winner. In 2024, the tournament name was changed to Queen of the Ring and held atKing and Queen of the Ring.
^Lake, Jefferson (October 9, 2018)."WWE Raw: D-Generation X reunite to battle The Undertaker and Kane".Sky Sports.Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. RetrievedApril 15, 2021.Michaels has not competed since losing a career-versus-streak match to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26 but makes his return to face the Dead Man in a tag match at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia next month.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
