By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Four U.S. Senators spoke with IJR.com about WWE running its Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia in light of the disappearance and presumed killing of reporter Jamal Khashoggi. “This is a brazen assault on the freedom of the press and a slap in the face to the United States, if this murder occurred as it seems it did,” Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut told IJR. “I’d hope that they would be rethinking their relationship with the kingdom especially with respect to events coming up in the next weeks like [WWE Crown Jewel].”
Senator Chris Coons suggested that WWE “should be taking a hard look” at its relationship with the Saudi government, which is accused of killing Khashoggi. Senators Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez offered additional thoughts on the matter with Menendez suggesting that Linda McMahon being part of the president’s cabinet falls into “a grey area where the administration really should give it some thought and maybe even prevail upon them not doing it.” Read the full story at IJR.com.
Powell’s POV: WWE issued the following statement on Wednesday: “We are currently monitoring the situation.” It will be very interesting to see whether WWE cancels, postpones, or moves the event, which is part of a very lucrative ten-year agreement with Saudi Arabia’s General Sport Authority. Given all the political and media scrutiny, I suspect there’s a good chance of one of those scenarios occurring.
Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guest Chris Harrington.
I mean the US Government isn’t cutting all ties to S.A. so it’s not like WWE has to bail. If the US thinks it’s still ok to work with S.A then WWE should be fine.
I hope all US weapons manufacturers are being given the same advice, though I am certain they are not.
What’s worse selling a terrible country weapons to wage war or selling that same terrible country a wrestling show?
Well….This is a tight spot for WWE. Do the show and take the chance of being branded by members of the Government as individuals more concerned with business than the American people or make changes to the event and ruin potential global expansion in that region. For a company that does an annual Tribute to the Troops show, doing anything that may come across as “anti-American” would seem hypocritical. To me, this looks like a no win situation short term for them right now.
They should change the actual show from Crown Jewel to Tribute to the Troops: Live from Saudi Arabia! Imagine that aftermath…
First step is for the US government to get out from under the thumb of the Saudi’s and denounce the petro dollar. Firty Buckers!
I decided to cancel my network subscription this morning. No need to have a subscription to the network until maybe Survivor Series, anyway.