| WWE in Saudi Arabia | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Promotions | WWE |
| Brands | Raw SmackDown |
| First event | April 2014 tour |
| Part of a series on |
| Professional wrestling |
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WWE, an American professional wrestling promotion based in Stamford, Connecticut, has been promoting events in Saudi Arabia since 2014. After initially holding non-televised house shows, WWE announced a 10-year strategic partnership with the Ministry of Sport in 2018, which would see the hosting of pay-per-views (PPV, now premium live events [PLEs]) in Saudi Arabia. In 2019, WWE announced it had "expanded" its partnership with the General Authority for Entertainment through 2027, under which it would hold two "large-scale events" in the country per-year.[1] These events have been held at venues in Riyadh or Jeddah.
Since the beginning of the agreement, two PLEs have been held in Saudi Arabia annually. One is held in the first half of the year within an existing WWE chronology, while an annual event known as Crown Jewel is held in either late-October or early-November. WWE's first major event in Saudi Arabia was Greatest Royal Rumble—a one-off edition of WWE's annual Royal Rumble—on April 27, 2018. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and WWE's suspension of touring, the Saudi events were suspended after Super ShowDown in February 2020. They returned with Crown Jewel in 2021.[2]
The partnership has faced criticism over Saudi Arabia's poor human rights record (including suppression of women's and LGBT rights), allegations of sportswashing, and the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.[3][4][5][6] Some WWE performers have declined or were restricted from participating in the shows due to government policies and political tensions, while members of WWE's women's division were initially barred from performing in the first three events; Crown Jewel in 2019 would eventually feature WWE's first women's match in the country, and Super ShowDown featured its first women's title defense.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter named the partnership between WWE and Saudi Arabia the "Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic" in both 2018 and 2019, and named 2018's Crown Jewel and the 2019 and 2020 Super ShowDown events as those year's "Worst Major Wrestling Show".[7][8]
- ^ Currier, Joseph (November 4, 2019). "WWE announces 'expanded' partnership with Saudi Arabia". f4wonline.com. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
- ^ Nason, Josh (July 26, 2021). "WWE returning to Saudi Arabia on October 21". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
- ^ "WWE: End Your Partnership With Saudi Arabia!". Code Pink. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ Bixenspan, David (November 1, 2018). "Why Is WWE Creating Propaganda for Saudi Arabia?". The Nation. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ Martínez, Sebastián (February 27, 2020). "Super ShowDown: los fans amenazan con darse de baja de WWE Network - Reacción de Bill Goldberg". Solowrestling.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave (March 5, 2020). "March 13, 2020 Observer Newsletter: 40th Annual Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- ^ Harrington, Chris. "Wrestling Observer Awards (WON) 1980 - 2018 (and runner-ups)". indeedwrestling.com. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave. "March 1, 2021, Wrestling Observer Newsletter 2020 awards issue, Elimination Chamber". Figure4Weekly. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 26, 2021.