US Senate to investigate Saudi incident. How will this affect the Saudi/WWE relationship?

General
41

Far from it, Meltzer is about reliable as they cone, this site has just used his comment and pretty much changed what he said.

42

They did speculate that the matches could be moved to survivor series on one of podcasts this week, but they didn’t report it was actually happening.

Alvarez is basically mocking third rate news sites at this point by constantly prefacing every conversation with “don’t report this as news, this is SPECULATION” and idiots still report everything they say as fact.

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Take this with a grain of salt but they’ve removed the option to buy tickets for the event as well as the location for the venue. Just says Crown Jewel without any mention of Saudi Arabia. They’ve also stop referring to the event on social media. Normally they would be talking about it consistently across all platforms as they have been, but last night and this morning, not so much.

https://www.wwe.com/2018

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44

That wasn’t an accident. It still doesn’t mean that it will be cancelled but they are obviously aware of the optics with this issue.

45

Wow…for the first time ever, a WWE event will take place in Parts Unknown.

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46

I’d love to know the true thoughts of Lesner / Cena / HBK / Taker / Rey and the other big names who don’t need WWE to sign their checks in a month

47

WWE are saying the Saudi event is still on.

48

For now, the problem the WWE will have at this point is time. With how fast this story has been developing and all the actions that have been happening like Senators asking others not to attend events, things could go downhill a lot faster. With 18 days to go, who knows what other information could come out, and could force the WWE’s hand.

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again, it all depends on the shareholders and sponsors. The fact is the deal was made by HHH and Vince to a extend so Knowing them, they probably would want to honored it no matter what, but if the sponsors or asking them to pull out of the show, they will because in the end, it’s not worth it to lose major sponsors over a show.

So if they decided to cancelled it, their always a way to salvage the card by putting the three main matches on survivor series instead. As for the tournament, you either, a) do a network special in another location or b) just do the first and second round on raw and smackdown and do the finals at survivor series.

Anyway, i feel that it all depends on how Trump react to the whole thing, if he actually do something right for a change and do something about the situation, then i feel WWE as no choice but to cancel the event, If he does like every other situation that happens over the last 2 years and just react like nothing happened, then i don’T see WWE cancelling anything since they will be protected by the president of the United states.

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If Congress decides to act, it doesn’t matter what the presdent wants. If they decide to put sanctions on Saudi Arabia it will affect the relationship with the WWE financially. At that point it’s entirely up to the WWE and the Saudis if it’s economically feasible to continue to work together.

51

Congress is republicans controlled. There is NOTHING they will do against the presidents support.

Is there any way to do a poll on this forum. I would be interested in what people think will eventually happen to Crown Jewel.

  1. Crown Jewel happens, is live on the WWE network and the show and Saudi Arabia continue to be promoted just as it has been.

  2. Crown Jewel happens but WWE stops advertising it being broadcast from Saudi Arabia.

  3. Crown Jewel happens but WWE stops promoting it, doesn’t show it on the network and at least a couple of the biggest draws (Lesnar, HBK, Taker, Kane, Cena) drop out of the show.

  4. Crown Jewel is cancelled by WWE.

  5. Crown Jewel is cancelled due to sanctions forbidding or making it difficult for WWE to continue with the show.

53

“Congress is republicans controlled. There is NOTHING they will do against the presidents support.”

Wrong. See the Russian sanctions from earlier this year. If Congress passes it the president is required by law to enforce it.

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Which were passed under different circumstances from today.

With just one month until the mid-terms, Congress will probably be most inclined to do absolutely nothing. And if they do pass anything it will only be with the presidents support so that they aren’t making any republicans have to make a controversial vote seen as being “anti-trump”.

55

If I remember correctly, did it just came out that Trump went against Congress and didn’t enforce those sanctions against Russia?

The fact is Trump will do what he want no matter what Congress tell him to do. That’s how crappy of a president Trump is.

56

This whole thread is pointless. We all know WWE doesn’t give a shit about anything other than the money. They obviously want to go. The performers probably don’t want to go, but they don’t really have a choice other than the legends.

I’m assuming most of the fans that would be attending, don’t have anything to do with the Saudi government. I don’t pretend to know a lot about politics or anything, I stay away from it because all it does is cause issues, but it just feels like the fans are getting the shaft here if WWE is forced to pull out.

Unless it’s an absolute harm to the performers, then I don’t see the need to not go. The only thing is, there should not be anything shown in the broadcast about how amazing and great this place is.

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Like Meltzer said on SNME, the only way WWE would only cancel the show if Trump himself told them to cancel the show, which he won’t do, or if the legends would say they don’t want to go which could give them a excuse to back up.

The problem with all of this is that, in the end, it’s still a business, they can’t just say we won’t do the event or we are cancelling the event because it would be a breach of contract. Sadly they did sign a contract with them and cancelling the event for political reason would be just as bad for them as if they don’t cancel it. In the end, when they made the deal, they knew what they we’re getting themselves into and not they are stuck in the middle of a political war. So unless something big happens that prevent them for doing the event, I don’t see them cancelling it.

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This whole thread is pointless.

I strongly disagree. The point of this thread was discussion. With 57 replies, most of which are civil and thoughtful discussion and debate, I’d say this thread was far from pointless.

Regardless, you’re not wrong about the WWE. The WWE is driven by money and nothing else. This morning Meltzer confirmed that the WWE is going unless the state department tells them no. This means regardless of Congresses findings, even if it means video and audio evidence of the torture, and murder of Jamal Khashoggi surfaces and there is zero doubt of the Saudis complicity in this crime, the WWE is still going.

This is completely unnacceptable. As a stockholder, network subscriber, and a guy who recently dropped $500 at the two Denver shows just on tickets, I need to vote with my wallet and make sure I’m not compromising my morals to support something shady. The WWE doesn’t need my money, nor will they miss my viewership, but unless they have a major change of heart I’m might be done. It just makes me sick to my stomach.

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I agree that unless the United States government stops WWE from going, I think they will go. Every piece of bad press they get eventually just fades past WWE and they just keep rolling on like nothing ever happened. I would imagine that is their mindset here as well, just a tough situation with some bad press that will pass.

Hopefully they grow a conscience and opt to cancel, but having no idea what their contract is like it’s hard to say how easy it would be to pull out.

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The other sign that make me think that the show won’t be cancel is the their a economic summit that’s going to happen in ryhad next week with a lot of highly ranked official from the united states and the united nations and it’S still going on even with this going on. Plus there’s a pretty good chance that unless something gets release to make this story even bigger then it is, This will probably dies just like a lot of story like this one tend to happens.

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I didnt mean the discussion itself is pointless, I meant the thought that this would cause WWE to cancel.

You say that you have to make sure you are not compromising your morals and to me…I dont get it at all, because I’m totally on the opposite spectrum from you. When I look at the WWE, it is a television show to me. It is entertainment. I go into it looking to be entertained. I see it as no different than watching hockey or football or Infinity War or Toy Story or Dancing with the Stars. I pay to go to the movies, to see movies that I know will have murder, rape, any number of things that I obviously would never support, but I dont feel it compromises my morals by paying to see them.

I have one issue with the WWE/Saudi deal and that is shilling their country on the broadcast, as if its the greatest place in the world. That is a bit too much to me, its not something as a fan that I care about or want to see. I think that they signed this deal, they should go, put on a solid show for the fans, fly home and thats it.

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