WWE: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Jewel event is hurting the women’s division

On the cusp of the next WWE event set to take place in Saudi Arabia on Halloween, it was hard not to ignore that this week’s Monday Night RAW had one major missing piece from it: its female superstars.

While it’s important to note that “The Man” Becky Lynch was representing WWE at a women’s summit (ESPNWSummit), while Charlotte Flair, The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), and The IIconics (Billy Kay and Peyton Royce) were on the Australian tour at a house show. Still, Natalya, Sarah Logan, and Liv Morgan (plus, potentially any SmackDown female competitors) could have been used on the show. .

It’s no secret to any WWE fan that female superstars are basically banned from performing in this area. While there was a buzz from the last event that the company was trying to get a women’s match booked for its Super Showdown event that took place last June, with Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer (h/t Bleacher Report’s Mike Chiari) reporting that Natalya versus Alexa Bliss was the bout slated, it never ended up happening, despite both women travelling to Jeddah.

Disappointing, yes; surprising, no.

It’s the elephant in the room that continues to pop up whenever WWE travels to Saudi Arabia. As a female wrestling fan, it does disappoint me that women aren’t included within these events that are often touted as “bigger than Wrestlemania”.

I’ve been a fan of this sport for over forty decades, and as a young girl, I never had a favorite female wrestler. I loved Hulk Hogan, I loved to hate Ric Flair. I had a ton of males I loved to watch, and in my living room I’d set up my stuffies and pretend to be Miss Elizabeth walking down that aisle, because she was the most prominent female displayed regularly on WWE television that I could identify with.

Nowadays, much like men’s division, there is a vast array of females for little girls to connect with, from Becky Lynch to Charlotte Flair, Liv Morgan, Sasha Banks, Nattie, Bliss, and so much more.

Which makes it that much more disheartening that there was literally zero women’s wrestling profiled this past Monday night, with Nattie and Logan placed on the Main Event card, prior to RAW hitting the airwaves.

While I can understand and appreciate that it’s all about Crown Jewel and the event’s buildup moving forward, it was still very odd to sit there for three hours without any female representation in that squared circle.

In many ways, it feels like Crown Jewel, and all these Saudi events, hurt the women’s division. While last year this time, the fans were given the first-ever all-women’s pay-per-view in Evolution, it seems as if this time around, the concept has been fluffed under the carpet; which is a shame considering the females of the WWE finally pulled off the unthinkable this past year when three ladies closed WrestleMania.

And now talents that should be given a spotlight, or airtime at the very least (looking at you Liv Morgan, Nattie, and Sarah Logan) are in catering, as they sit and wait for at least another RAW (or two) to go by before they can get some T.V. time.

Having said that, there have been times in the past when the Intercontinental Championship takes a backburner in storylines, as well as all three other tag titles, and the U.S. title. All these championships reflect a division of their own that is not being highlighted on programming.

Still, when this takes place, it’s often because so much is going on, or there is a lack of focus on the title or division at hand. The very fact that an entire gender isn’t profiled on television potentially because they are banned from performing within a specific country can leave a bad taste for some fans.

Could it hurt the division in the long run? Most likely not; however, it does prohibit any mid-card female superstars from making a mark. It also might be an ongoing trend moving forward, as WWE takes the trip to Saudi Arabia twice a year now.

How long has it been since we’ve seen Sarah Logan on RAW? Liv Morgan teased a character change weeks ago on TV (well before the draft while she was still on SmackDown LIVE) and social media, but the WWE Universe still waits to see her evolution. So, while it may not affect the Four Horsewomen right now, it does trickle downward.

Something has got to change around all this.