News regarding WWE’s plans to move forward with Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia
Despite escalating violence in the Middle East over the weekend, WWE continues to promote Crown Jewel as an event taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Paul “Triple H” Levesque shared the official poster for the PLE, advertising a 12:00 PM ET start time and confirming that the event will air live from Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh was reportedly targeted in strikes by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group last weekend, including an airport attack that was said to have taken the lives of 13 people.
Saudi official Turki Alalshikh has also confirmed that Canelo Alvarez still plans to travel to Riyadh for his October 31st boxing match against Christian Mbilli despite the strikes.
PWInsider.com reports that WWE has not held any discussions about moving Crown Jewel out of Riyadh. Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.com also stated that, as of 10:00 AM ET on October 13th, Riyadh remains the plan for the event, although a backup city in the United States is reportedly being considered. Dave Meltzer noted that “this is obviously going to be [Executive chairman of TKO] Ari Emanuel’s decision because this is way over [WWE President] Nick Khan’s head.”
Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn and Liv Morgan vs. Chelsea Green in champion vs. champion matches are scheduled for the event.