WWE made a controversial agreement to produce content in the nation of Saudi Arabia earlier this year. The company already hosted The Greatest Royal Rumble in the country earlier this year, and officials were hopeful that they would be able to return for another show, Crown Jewel, later on this year. However, recent current events had made the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia problematic. US Senators have even begun calling on WWE to reconsider traveling to the nation, but as of right now, the company has refused to cancel plans for their upcoming Crown Jewel event, and it appears that the show will still be airing live on the WWE Network on the planned November 2nd date. However, it does look like WWE is beginning to take some measures against the backlash that they have been receiving.
The decision to continue on with the planned visit to Saudi Arabia has been met with criticism from fans and others outside of the company, and WWE has taken action by reducing the mentions of the Saudi Arabia name. WrestlingNews.co notes that social media posts about the Crown Jewel event now specifically list the matches for the show but do not mention where they will be taking place. The call for WWE to abandon plans for Crown Jewel largely came about as result of the recent alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. WWE has said before that they are monitoring the situation, and although fans continue to call for Crown Jewel’s cancellation, that still does not appear to be likely as this point in time. With mentions of Saudi Arabia now seemingly banned online, expect the same precaution to be implemented on WWE programming.
A large and unfortunate number of deaths involving pro wrestlers have taken place this year. The likes of Bruno Sammartino, Vader, Brian Christopher, Nikolai Volkoff, and Jim Neidhart have all passed away this year. Sadly, it has been reported that Don Leo Jonathan passed away earlier this week as well. PWInsider reports that the Canadian wrestler died at the age of 87 yesterday. Jonathan made his pro wrestling debut in 1949, and he worked in Japan, Canada, the US, Europe, and Australia over the course of his wrestling career. Jonathan retired from the ring back in 1980, but he will always be remembered as a hero in Canada for his impressive size and fantastic ability inside of the ring.