Report: Gunther decided against going to Saudi Arabia for WWE Crown Jewel 2026

Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com reported on Monday that the originally planned match between Gunther and “Demon” Finn Balor was never announced for Crown Jewel because Gunther decided against traveling to Saudi Arabia, despite WWE filming segments to build toward the match.

Meltzer stated the following…

“Multiple WWE sources confirmed the story, which others internally also believed to be true. One source said that the situation went back-and-forth and thus everything on television was going in that direction. There was also talk that Balor was not thrilled to go either but the belief internally was he would have gone if Gunther would have gone.”

Several people within WWE had reportedly believed that talent could no longer turn down Saudi Arabia appearances, as had happened in the past. However, Gunther’s decision apparently showed that this was not necessarily the case, at least for someone in a prominent position on the shows.

Meltzer also noted that WWE talent were initially allowed to skip Saudi Arabia events during the early years of the company’s relationship with the country, particularly top stars. Over time, however, although talent were not directly told they had to attend, it became understood that declining could affect their pushes. In some cases, wrestlers were also expected to relinquish championships before the events if they chose not to travel.

There had reportedly been no recent instances of talent declining to attend. However, the ongoing war in the region created a different set of concerns than those surrounding the earlier Saudi Arabia events.