No executive from WWE or corporate parent TKO has given any indication they were seriously considering not running Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Saturday (Nov. 7). Fans, pundits, and allegedly a few members of the wrestling roster don’t think they should — including this fan/pundit. That’s because of recent attacks on Riyadh’s airport and other targets in Saudi Arabia by rebels in neighboring Yemen, and related security warnings about travelling there.
But WWE and TKO will make tens of
millions for going forward with Crown Jewel in Riyadh, and are hoping to work their relationship with the House of Saud to make future billions. So no one was surprised yesterday when TKO President Mark Shapiro told investors, “we are all systems go.”
That doesn’t mean it didn’t take a little convincing internally to get all those systems going into an area the United States government is advising citizens to “reconsider” travelling to.
On their weekly show for Fightful Select today, WrestleVotes reported that crew members (not wrestlers or office staff) were offered hazard pay to work Crown Jewel this weekend. Two WWE sources told Votes the offer was $3K. Despite the unusual step, some decided to stay safe at home.
“Traditionally, that type of incentive has not been offered for standard crew responsibilities. We’re told that several crew members have opted out of making the trip, regardless of the additional compensation.”
Not much new there, but further evidence that not everyone agrees with Shapiro’s assessment that the risk of running a Saudi show right now “is extremely minimal”.
