Report: John Cena, Daniel Bryan ‘Refusing’ To Appear At Crown Jewel

WWE Crown Jewel is expected to continue on Nov. 2 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia despite massive pressure following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. However, the show may be in jeopardy with top stars John Cena and Daniel Bryan reportedly refusing to wrestle at the show.

Fightful and Sports Illustrated reported earlier that WWE wrestlers have expressed discomfort at working the “Crown Jewel” Network Special in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 2, but Sean Ross Sapp noted that the wrestlers who spoke to Fightful.com did not end up being booked for Crown Jewel.

However, Daniel Bryan and John Cena are two of the biggest stars in WWE, and both wrestlers will feature prominently at Crown Jewel. Bryan will face AJ Styles in a “dream” WWE Championship match, whereas Cena automatically qualified for WWE’s falsely advertised World Cup and is likely a favorite to win the tournament.

According to a report from Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports, Cena and Bryan are both “refusing” to work the show, with Fox noting that other wrestlers have voiced their concerns about traveling to a country that commits many human rights violations. Fox adds, of course, that Bryan and Cena have more power than the others, so the fact that he is hearing that they are “refusing” to wrestle at Crown Jewel is huge news. It puts Crown Jewel in some jeopardy of occuring.

Earlier this year, WWE aired a Network Special from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, dubbing it the Greatest Royal Rumble, as the show was main evented by a 50-man Rumble that Braun Strowman won.

The show itself was panned by most wrestling fans, with many upset that WWE was essentially doing paid propaganda for the Saudi Arabia government. This was critiqued recently by John Oliver on LastWeekTonight, ahead of next month’s “Crown Jewel” Pay Per View.

When “The Greatest Royal Rumble” was first announced, WWE fans made their feelings known about WWE’s association with Saudi Arabia. WWE’s response was that they are trying to create social change in Saudi Arabia, doubling down on the rhetoric that Mohammed bin Salman is a progressive leader. Deadspin’s David Bixenspan and Karim Zidan, who is an expert in this space, wrote an excellent piece detailing why WWE’s involvement in Saudi Arabia is such a huge problem.

The cries from fans for WWE to exit its lucrative deal with Saudi Arabia have grown in the aftermath of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death. Turkish officials believe that Khashoggi, an American, was murdered by Saudi agents inside of a Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has recently admitted that Khashoggi was “murdered”.

Keep an eye out for more updates on the status of this show, and I’d wager that most WWE fans would be happy if Crown Jewel’s location were moved to a country that doesn’t commit human rights violations on this grand of a scale.