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#3 Stars withdrawing from the event
In the week before Crown Jewel, it was announced that both John Cena and Daniel Bryan had withdrawn from the event. Although the reasons for them pulling out are not clear, it certainly does not reflect well on WWE to have two of their most prominent stars pull out of the event at such short notice.
Bryan was booked to compete in the WWE title match against AJ Styles, however due to Bryan excusing himself from the event, he was replaced by Samoa Joe. John Cena meanwhile was scheduled to face Seth Rollins in the quarter-final of the WWE World Cup, but ended up being replaced by Bobby Lashley.
One possible reason for Cena and Bryan missing the event was the recent political pressure put on WWE regarding holding an event in Saudi Arabia. WWE had gained some negative mainstream press for their decision to go ahead with the event, and the decision of two of WWE's most prominent stars refusing to appear brought the event under more scrutiny.
Another superstar who was forced to withdraw from the event was Roman Reigns. Originally Reigns was supposed to defend his title in a triple threat against Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman, however after the heartbreaking announcement of his leukemia diagnosis, Reigns was forced to relinquish the title and withdraw from the event.
Of course moments like these are out of WWE's control, however not having Reigns, the face of the company, certainly weakened the event.
