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Crown Jewel, the second ever pay-per-view to be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to be held on November 2.
The event will follow the Greatest Royal Rumble event which was hosted by the Kingdom earlier this year and saw some of the best matches of the year being staged on it.
From The Undertaker to Brock Lesnar, and even John Cena and Triple H worked matches at the event which made the cash-rich event a big success, and the same is being assumed for Crown Jewel.
The Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels are some of the legends who will be battling it out at the event. This ensures that the event will be a huge success, and will build an even greater wrestling fanbase in the country which is looking to further the sports in the region.
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While many wrestlers were confirmed for the event, and a huge build-ups were under works, the event was hit by a huge controversy after the death of Jamal Khashoggi.
Almost a month ago, Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey which has led to many countries condemning the attack and reacting to the way the Kingdom is working.
Therefore, many WWE Superstars have also decided to stay away from the event as they think that the controversy related to the venue may have an adverse effect on their career.
Let’s take a look at 3 top WWE superstars who will not be the part of the event after being advertised for it.
#3 John Cena
Widely regarded as the best entertainer WWE has ever produced, John Cena had been the face of the company for a very long time.
While he has taken a break from wrestling and gone into other fields of entertainment, he has made periodic appearances to work some good matches recently.
Saudi Arabia saw him open the Greatest Royal Rumble event along with Triple H and beat the legend decisively which would have been booked in favour of Cena due to his popularity overseas.
He had been made a part of the WWE World Cup through automatic selection and he didn’t need to take part in the qualifying round for the event. This stamped the fact that UAE really wanted the superstar to perform once again on its soil.
As Cena has distanced himself from the event, the WWE will face a tough challenge to replace the Superstar as the country might not see any other Superstar as an equal replacement to the megastar.
John Cena has officially opted out of the event, and he will not be a part of Crown Jewel.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura created waves during his time in the development brand NXT, and he was destined for greater things on the main roster.
He won the Royal Rumble in 2018 which was a big achievement for the Japanese Superstar and got his opportunity for the WWE Championship against AJ Styles at WrestleMania. He lost the match but got subsequent chances which he couldn’t capitalise on.
He is now the WWE United States Champion and in his first reign, he hasn’t been doing much since winning the championship. He hasn’t defended his championship in a while and even went without featuring on the Hell in a Cell and Super Showdown pay-per-views.
That makes one wonder why he is skipping Crown Jewel, and there must be some reason behind it as he is lowering the value of the US Championship.
A reason for that could be Japan’s strained ties with the Kingdom following the death of the journalist, which could have resulted in him holding back from the pay-per-view too. Even though that is just a speculation, it is a point to note that he was at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia earlier in the year and not featuring in Crown Jewel could be the result of some political tensions.
#1 Daniel Bryan
The underdog and the favourite of many fans has won a major fan following the world over in much lesser time than many others have.
Daniel Bryan worked one of the best, and the longest, match at Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia during the 50-man royal rumble match. He was in the ring for 76 minutes, which proved that the WWE were teasing the underdog to win the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Just like John Cena, Bryan has distanced himself from the event due to the killing of the Saudi journalist for The Washington Post.
Bryan was scheduled to work a match against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, which was another chance for him to win the biggest title on SmackDown at one of WWE’s biggest event.
However, him and AJ Styles had to face each other at SmackDown on October 30 and leave the door open for Samoa Joe to take his place at the event in Saudi Arabia.
As for now, PWInsider has confirmed that Daniel Bryan will not be making the trip to the Kingdom.
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