WWE’s events in Saudi Arabia are not known for high levels of quality. Most shows have been critically panned with some of the worst matches in company history.
However, today we are going to try and put on our positivity caps. While these shows are bad and paid for by bad people, some of the matches have been decent.
I would not go so far as to say any of the matches have been great but let’s lower our expectations for a moment and take a look at some of the bright spots of these terrible events.
These are nine WWE Saudi Arabia matches that were actually decent.
9. AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Greatest Royal Rumble
The rivalry between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura never quite lived up to the hype.
One of their many pay-per-view matches came at WWE’s first Saudi Arabia event, the Greatest Royal Rumble. The work in their matches was never bad, just underwhelming.
This match was more of the same solid stuff we had seen and if it didn’t have such a lame finish it would have placed much higher.
In their quest to have more bad finishes in this rivalry than any other, both men got counted out resulting in another draw.
8. Kalisto vs. Cedric Alexander – Greatest Royal Rumble
Before he was completely buried in the heavyweight division, Cedric Alexander was the flag bearer for 205Live.
A very good Cruiserweight Champion, Alexander was a rare bright spot on some of these shows. In this case, he defended his title against Kalisto.
This would not be a match to garner an emotional reaction from an ordinary crowd, but on a show like this having two great wrestlers just go out and have a good match is more than enough.
7. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe – Crown Jewel 2018
By the time AJ Styles and Samoa Joe got to Crown Jewel in 2018 their rivalry had run its course. They had their blowoff match in Australia but Daniel Bryan refused to go to Saudi Arabia and was replaced by Joe.
As a result we got this match once again. It wasn’t terribly different from the other matches they had in 2018, only slightly less intense than their matches at SummerSlam and Super Show-Down.
Joe lost once again, which didn’t help this rivalry but there are few combinations of wrestlers in WWE that are more reliable together than these two.
6. Finn Balor vs. Andrade – Super Showdown 2019
Finn Balor’s run as Intercontinental Champion in 2019 was largely forgettable but he did have the only good match at Super Showdown 2019. That’s something, I guess.
Had this match not taken place in Saudi Arabia it could easily have been a classic. Balor and Andrade were a great combination and it really is a shame we didn’t see them have a proper rivalry.
For this match you could tell the two men were fighting the elements. Balor’s bodypaint had almost completely runoff as a result of the heat but they were able to gut it out and have a very solid match.
5. Greatest Royal Rumble Match
The disdain for WWE’s Saudi Arabia shows didn’t start until Crown Jewel 2018. While the Greatest Royal Rumble wasn’t a great show by any means, it was far from the disaster that many of the others became.
The show’s titular match was a wee bit of false advertising as this was certainly not the Greatest Royal Rumble ever but it was decent enough.
With 50 entrants the match was definitely a bit too long but it is hard not to have fun with a Royal Rumble.
There were some fun highlights such as Daniel Bryan’s iron man performance and Titus O’Neil’s career-defining botch.
The match ended up meaning nothing as Braun Strowman didn’t even get a title shot out of it but if you’re looking for decent Saudi Arabia matches this certainly fits the bill.
4. Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins – Crown Jewel 2018
Remember when WWE was playing a Wrestling World Cup tournament and included only Americans?
Nah, let’s just keep forgetting about that. Sure enough, WWE changed the tournament to “The Tournament to Determine the Best in the World”, still not sure how they fit all that on a graphic.
The tournament was laughably bad but hidden away in the middle of the card was this match.
Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins competed in a semi-final match and had one of the only good matches on the show.
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering how consistent the two men are but Saudi Arabia has killed the will to perform of many men.
Ziggler won which was baffling but so was the booking of the entire tournament so oh well.
3. Team Hogan vs. Team Flair – Crown Jewel 2019
It truly is insane to see this lineup and think about how almost everyone involved has turned heel or face in the two years since this match occurred.
Big ten-man tag team matches are often very fun in WWE and this was no exception. Just look at all the talent that was involved.
The fact that they are representing Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair does bring the enjoyment of this match down significantly but if you can ignore that fact the match was quite enjoyable.
2. Cesaro vs. Mansoor – Crown Jewel 2019
It should come as no surprise that one of the best matches WWE has had at a given event was had by Cesaro.
WWE hasn’t always been keen to let babyfaces win in their hometown. However, when that home is paying millions and millions of dollars for the event, they are much more open to the idea.
Mansoor is a capable wrestler even if WWE didn’t feature him on television at the time. They always made sure to find him a great opponent for these shows. Cesaro is about as great as it gets.
This was the best match Mansoor has had in WWE to date and it seems fitting that this places near the top of this list considering who is involved.
1. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. The Miz – Greatest Royal Rumble
WWE provided a pretty solid card for the Greatest Royal Rumble. One of the best examples of that was this Fatal 4-Way ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship.
Seth Rollins had just won the title at WrestleMania 34 and his run was extraordinary. This match played a large part in the quality of his reign as he defended the title against his opponents from WrestleMania as well as Samoa Joe.
It is very hard to not have an exciting ladder match and while this one might not be anyone’s favorite, it is still the best match WWE has put on in Saudi Arabia to this point.
At least the match can hang its hat on that.
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