With Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, less than 24 hours away, there is finally a positive update on the WWE roster.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Bryan Alvarez wrote that all the wrestlers scheduled for the show have arrived in Saudi Arabia, and there have been no issues so far.
Alvarez also reported that Power Slap, the slap fighting promotion associated with TKO, has been in the country all week without incident. On Friday, Power Slap 26 will also take place in Riyadh.
“All the WWE talent is in Saudi now and things seem fine at the moment,” Alvarez wrote. “Power Slap had also been there all week and no issues.”
But the roster arrived during an extremely tense time in the Middle East. In October, King Khalid International Airport, the main airport in Riyadh, was targeted three times in a week by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group. In the most serious attack, on October 10, at least 12 people were killed and 309 were injured.
In response, the U.S. State Department ordered nonessential embassy staff to leave the country, and Crown Jewel was moved from Riyadh Season Stadium, an outdoor stadium, to The Venue (ANB Arena), an indoor arena. Dave Meltzer noted that the move was made due to security concerns. The new arena is about 35 minutes away from the airport that was hit.
Fightful Select reported that WWE brought a smaller crew than usual, and much of the production for the show will be handled from the United States.
Back in 2022, a similar situation came up at Crown Jewel, when a warning about a potential Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia led the U.S. embassy to reach out to WWE. That year, the show was held as planned, and the wrestlers left the country without incident.
This year’s Crown Jewel will take place on Saturday. In the United States, the show will be exclusive to ESPN Unlimited, and the main card will begin at noon ET.