October 22, 2018 Observer Newsletter: WWE Crown Jewel controversy, plus tons of news

With the apparent link to the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey while at the Saudi Arabian consulate, the WWE has become under fire for doing the 11/2 Crown Jewel show in Riyadh.

While there was talk about backup plans and monitoring the situation, at press time the show is a go, and tickets were to be put on sale on 10/19 for the show at King Saud University Stadium. The move from King Fahd International Stadium to the smaller King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh for the Crown Jewel show had nothing to do with popularity or ticket sales (which hadn’t even started) but because the larger stadium was up for renovation.

It appears that WWE is taking the approach that they have a deal worth $450 million or so, over ten years, that they would breach by not doing the show, and that, as is almost always the case with Vince McMahon, what is going on in the real world doesn’t matter since McMahon only knows one world, which is the one he usually almost fully controls.

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