Wild $128m reason WWE refuses to cancel show in a war zone
The WWE risks losing as much as $128m if they cancel their major show in Saudi Arabia at the start of November, according to insiders.
The parent company of both WWE and UFC, TKO, is reportedly set to plough ahead with all scheduled events despite increasing concerns about safety in the area, as war rages across the Middle East.
WWE’s Cody Rhodes and Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque in Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel in 2024. WWE, Getty
UFC 333 was held in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, while an upcoming fight night in late November is scheduled to take place in Doha, Qatar.
A premium WWE event, meanwhile, will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 8. Yemen Houthis struck the international airport on Monday with ballistic missiles.
The airport had only just partially reopened following a previous attack before this latest strike.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Iran was in "advanced stages" of planning attacks on Americans in Saudi Arabia, while the US ordered the departure of some embassy staff and families from the country last week.
Despite this, TKO CEO Ari Emmanuel said last week that they are pushing ahead with 'WWE: Crown Jewel'.
“Right now, everything is still set. This weekend coming up in Abu Dhabi, we have a UFC fight. We have in the middle of November a Frieze art show. So far, so good. Nothing’s been cancelled,” Emmanuel told Fox News.
"We have a whole team kind of working on (Crown Jewel), and if that (Riyadh as the location) doesn’t happen, where we can move it. It’s a daily monitoring.”
Construction on the stage for Crown Jewel is already underway and moving ahead as planned, videos posted to social media have shown.
The $128m figure is reportedly tied solely to the staging of the WWE event, and does not even factor in UFC 333 or other events in the Middle East.
WWE reportedly has a contingency plan to hold the event in either Europe or the United States should the situation change, but they have distanced themselves from the possibility publicly.
Wrestlers have been barred from discussing their feelings about the risks publicly, though reports have leaked that staff making the trip have voiced their discomfort internally.
Saudi government official, and co-founder of Zuffa Boxing alongside TKO, Turki Alalshikh, took to X during the week to post that “hard times reveal true friends”, which has reportedly heaped more pressure on WWE to proceed with Crown Jewel.
WWE has been holding events in Saudi Arabia since 2018 and while some wrestlers initially refused to make the trip, including current WWE Champion Sami Zayn, those statements have seemingly fallen away.
Zayn, who is of Syrian descent, will headline Crown Jewel alongside World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns. Syria's strained relationship with Saudi Arabia was part of his call to skip the first event in 2018.
Current WWE Champion Sami Zayn performing in Riyadh in 2026. WWE, Getty
These events will culminate in WWE hosting their biggest annual show of 2027, WrestleMania 43, in Saudi Arabia. A decision that has been widely slammed, given this will be the first time the event has ever been held outside the United States.
WWE’s women’s wrestlers are forced to wear full bodysuits covering skin to perform on these shows.
A major boxing event is also taking place in Riyadh at the start of November, with Canelo Alvarez defending the World Boxing Championship World Super Middleweight title against Christian Mbilli.
Alvarez arrived in Saudi Arabia this week ahead of the bout, though there are doubts surrounding undercard competitors and whether they will make the trip.
