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Elimination Chamber, the second WWE Premium Live Event on the road to WrestleMania 38, will take place at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on February 19.
It will feature a variety of talent including WWE legends Goldberg and Lita as well as currently active superstars like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and AJ Styles.
So far, the following matches have been announced for the event:
- Bobby Lashley (c) vs. 2022 Men's Royal Rumble winner Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles vs. Riddle vs. Seth Rollins vs. Austin Theory - WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match
- Roman Reigns vs. WWE Hall Of Famer Goldberg - Universal Championship Match
- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lita - RAW Women's Championship Match
- The Usos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders - SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
- Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
More matches are likely to be announced in the coming weeks.
When it comes to WWE's Premium Live Events in Saudi Arabia, the complete roster is never available to the company. Some wrestlers simply have no desire to travel to the kingdom while others go unbooked due to controversial reasons.
Let's take a look at three active WWE Superstars who will not be part of this year's Elimination Chamber due to such reasons.
#3 Shayna Baszler
Shayna Baszler has never competed at a WWE Premium Live Event in the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia.
The Queen of Spades was a favorite to win last year's Queen's Crown tournament, but lost to Doudrop in the semi-finals, leading to speculation that WWE wouldn't book her for the finals in Saudi Arabia due to her sexuality. Fans and media outlets alike mused over the prospect that the Saudi government would not allow her to compete at Crown Jewel. However, there isn't any credible evidence supporting that claim.
Regardless, judging by Baszler's current booking, it looks like she won't take part in the Elimination Chamber event either, continuing her streak of missing out on WWE's Saudi shows.
#2 Sami Zayn
Another superstar who has never traveled to the sands of Saudi Arabia for WWE is the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship, Sami Zayn.
Sami's case is fairly clear next to Baszler's. The reason he's never made the trip and likely never will is due to Zayn's Syrian roots. The Saudi kingdom has maintained a strained relationship with Syria since the Syrian Civil War in 2012.
When WWE's partnership with Saudi Arabia began back in 2018, they announced the following regarding Zayn before The Greatest Royal Rumble:
"WWE is committed to embracing individuals from all backgrounds while respecting local customs and cultural differences around the world," WWE said in a statement released after the decision was made to keep Zayn off The Greatest Royal Rumble.
Zayn is currently one of the most heavily featured superstars on WWE programming, but he is definitely going to miss Elimination Chamber.
This is likely the reason Shinsuke Nakamura will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Zayn on the SmackDown before the big show rather than holding a traditional title defense at the Premium Live Event.
This shouldn't affect Zayn's role on WWE programming, however, as he will continue his feud with Nakamura for the next two weeks, which will be followed by whatever WWE has planned for him after they return from Elimination Chamber.
#1 Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens has been featured constantly on WWE programming over the past couple of months, but he is also one of the active superstars who will not be a part of the Elimination Chamber event.
The Prizefighter himself reportedly decided to sit out WWE shows in Saudi Arabia back in 2019. Apparently, he informed WWE Chairman Vince McMahon about it prior to the company's third Premium Live Event in Saudi Arabia, Super ShowDown, in June of that year.
Perhaps, this is due to the fact that his best friend, Sami Zayn, is not allowed to travel to the kingdom.
Owens was part of The Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018, which kicked off the 10-year partnership between WWE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was out of action due to injury when the second event, Crown Jewel, took place in November of the same year.
Owens recently found himself in an unlikely tag team with Seth Rollins on RAW. Unfortunately for Rollins, his partner will not be by his side when he steps inside the Elimination Chamber to fight Bobby Lashley, Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, Riddle and Austin Theory for the WWE Championship.
For his part, Owens lost a Qualifying match for the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match against Austin Theory on last Monday's episode of RAW.
