WWE Crown Jewel 2026 will be remembered for all the wrong reasons

On paper, it should be a must-see match: Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn. The last time these contrasting rivals went head-to-head in the ring back in February 2023, it ended up being the high point of the entire Bloodline saga — an extremely juicy cherry on top of an already delicious cake.

Now, Reigns vs. Zayn are set to do battle again, for only the second time in history, at this weekend’s WWE Crown Jewel. And our excitement levels? Well, they’re not exactly through the roof. For whatever happens in the squared circle come Saturday afternoon, it almost certainly won’t be what we remember most about this most controversial of PLEs.

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Instead, this year’s Crown Jewel is set to be remembered for one thing only: WWE’s decision to stick to its original plans to run an event in Saudi Arabia during what looks a hell of a lot like an ongoing conflict involving what the U.S. government considers to be an active terrorist organization, namely the Iran-backed Houthis.

That has been the story over the past month, as we’ve watched in disbelief as WWE has stuck by its Saudi plans (first announced in August. when things looked much more peaceful). Every time we figured they would change course — not just after the lethal strikes on Riyadh airport in early October, but also after the U.S. government opted to evacuate some diplomats from the city — we were left in the same position, waiting for the news that never arrived.

So now here we are: Less than 48 hours away from what could well be the most ill-advised pro-wrestling event since Antonio Inoki and Eric Bischoff were duped into organizing a propaganda spectacle for the North Korean government back in 1995. Travel advisories and terrorist threats be damned: WWE is heading to Riyadh.

Obviously, we hope the event goes as smoothly as possible. Realistically, it almost certainly will — just as last week’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight passed without incident too. But that doesn’t mean that this year’s Crown Jewel isn’t going to leave a lasting stain on WWE’s corporate image, and that of its parent company TKO.

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Just look at some of the things we’ve seen over the past few weeks. The fact that Ari Emanuel, the all-powerful head of the TKO empire, was grilled about the wisdom of the decision to go to Saudi Arabia during what was supposed to be a softball interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier. That’s the sort of thing that tends to stick around — and not just in the wrestling press.

Then there was the leaked audio from TKO’s international town-hall meeting, obtained by POST Wrestling. For weeks, we’ve heard whispers of talent and staffers being worried about working a Saudi show in the circumstances. Now here was confirmation of that discontent, coming straight from the mouth of Mark Shapiro, one of the top names in the TKO hierarchy.

“We’re all hoping and praying everything goes off without a hitch,” said Shapiro, TKO’s Chief Operating Officer, speaking over video conference to invited WWE talent and staffers. He went on to thank all those staff who have worked on the ground at events across the wider Middle East region while assuring his audience that, despite appearances, WWE wouldn’t hesitate to postpone Crown Jewel should there be “further escalation.”

Had Shapiro been the one in the Fox hot seat, Bret Baier might have asked him exactly what sort of escalation he was waiting for, given that the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh issued a fresh warning about bubbling tensions just this week. Though I appreciate that the scope for adversarial questions is slightly thinner when it comes to internal staff meetings.

Even so, a C-suite executive having to reassure staffers that the company doesn’t want to send them into an actual warzone? That’s the sort of thing that can have a long shelf life. It also makes me even more convinced that this year’s Crown Jewel, or at least its build-up, will end up joining the ranks of historic controversies that have dogged the whole WWE-Saudi Arabia relationship for the past decade.

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I’m talking here about things like WWE having to run all-male cards for its initial Crown Jewel shows. Or the ongoing fascination about why WWE’s charter jet was held on the tarmac back in 2019. Or the bizarre moment ahead of last year’s Night of Champions when CM Punk ended up offering an on-stage apology for his previous disparaging comments about the country.

Individually, those incidents were never going to sink this relationship on their own. But added together they contribute to that feeling — the one that WWE so hard to shake over the past decade — that there’s just something murky about this whole Saudi relationship.

It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Chelsea Green, Liv Morgan and all the other performers who will be tasked with putting on a pro-wrestling show amid the circumstances. I mean, just compare the vibes around this event to the last time that Roman Reigns took on Sami Zayn, back in that aforementioned title match at the peak of the Bloodline saga.

What did we have back then? A hot-as-hell crowd in Montreal. A groundswell of support for the creative direction. A feeling that, for all the inherent cliches in pro-wrestling, WWE was actually building to something special. If anyone had mentioned safety concerns, you’d have guessed they were talking about the chances of Roman Reigns, then the hottest heel in pro-wrestling, leaving the Bell Center in one piece.

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That Reigns and Zayn delivered a five-star match was the perfect end to that chapter. So what would happen if they were to repeat that achievement this Saturday afternoon? Sure, it might create a bit of buzz across social media on Saturday night and some highlight packages for “Raw” on Monday. But would it really change how any of us look back on this event in a year’s time? Would it make this whole fiasco look any smarter?

On that front, you have to feel the damage is done — regardless of whatever Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro might tell you.

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