Published: 6 seconds ago by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: 6 seconds ago by Dave Adamson
Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.
WWE
WWE Crown Jewel takes place on November 7 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, yet a US travel advisory may affect those plans.
From its inception in 2018, WWE Crown Jewel has taken place in Saudi Arabia, with the exception of last year’s event which emanated from Perth, Australia.
With this year’s event set for November, a recent travel advisory issued by the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Saudi Arabia has advised to “reconsider travel” in its level 3 notice.
WWE Crown Jewel is just over a month away, with executives no doubt monitoring the situation, but what options do they have for the upcoming PLE?
Head To Saudi Arabia
“Reconsider travel” isn’t the same as prohibiting excursions to the region out right, despite the strength of concern in the notice and WWE higher ups may feel that the risk is worth it given the multi-year relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Whether stars would feel as secure remains to be seen, particularly with the criteria covered by the advisory and a “Level 4: Do not travel” notice for the Yemen border region.
With over a month until the event itself, there’s still time for the political situation in the region to ease through diplomatic means.
Find A New Home Stateside
While the hope may be to run the show at Riyadh Season Stadium at King Abdullah Financial District, there’s always the possibility that WWE could identify a new home in the United States for Crown Jewel.
The difficult there, of course, is that suitable venues are highly likely to have been booked for months, if not years, in advance, with all the logistics that such an operation would require already allocated where necessary. Arena and stadium spaces are a world apart from the smaller venues that many independent promoters may use.
Add to this the need to sell tickets with mere weeks notice, as well as the impact on the local tourism industry that would usually make a WWE PLE a tantilizing prospect for the region’s officials, and there’s a lot of work that would need to be put into place in very little time.
Bring Back The WWE ThunderDome
The show must go on and it might be time to bring back a relic of the COVID-19 era in the form of the WWE ThunderDome.
Back in August 2020, lockdowns prevented fans from attending live events, with WWE opting to run Raw, SmackDown and PLEs in empty arenas. Fans would “attend” virtually, with the crowd represented by row after row of video screens, akin to FaceTime or any other conference call solution.
While a venue would be needed, with the issues above still present, WWE does have a solution in Performance Center, the home of NXT, having previously used Full Sail University as its home.
When it comes to fan attendance, free access was offered to the ThunderDome, with those interested signing up in the days before any given event. Now, Club WWE could be a way to offer access to a fanbase of subscribers and may spark greater interest in the platform.
Could WWE Cancel The Crown Jewel?
By all accounts, no.
It’s likely that, with the travel advisory in effect, Saudi Arabia authorities will allow WWE to miss the show in their territory, with a different date or contract extension likely taking place.
ESPN, however, is no doubt expecting a WWE Premium Live Event on November 7, regardless of what form it takes and where broadcasts from. After all, Crown Jewel is just the name of the show, and the show must go on.
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