WWE News & Rumor Roundup - Top AEW star teases massive switch, Vince McMahon's doubts about pushing RAW Superstar, Backstage reaction to Crown Jewel (21st October 2021)

#4. Backstage news and notes from WWE Crown Jewel 2021

WWE's latest Saudi Arabia offering was pleasantly a solid show as several fans have praised the overall quality of the pay-per-view on social media.

WWE officials backstage also seemed thrilled with how Crown Jewel panned out, as per PWInsider's report.

The general feeling backstage within WWE is that Crown Jewel was one of the most well-produced pay-per-views of the year. Vince McMahon and his team are happy with the overall Crown Jewel presentation and the fan reactions to the show.

Here's what Mike Johnson reported:

"Those who spoke to within WWE was really thrilled with today's Crown Jewel PPV as the feeling was it was one of the better major shows they have produced over the last year. I would concur with that assessment."

Regarding WWE's return to Saudi Arabia, it was revealed that the company tentatively plans on going back to the Middle East in the first quarter of 2022.

It should also be noted that Adam Pearce and Chris Park (Abyss) were producers at Crown Jewel.

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#3. More on WWE's reported plan for Adam Cole and the company's doubts about his size

While Adam Cole has settled down nicely in AEW, the backstage news regarding the final days of his WWE run continues to make headlines.

During a recent Wrestling Observer Radio episode, Dave Meltzer revealed that WWE officials felt that Adam Cole was too small to be a top guy. '

While the WWE management was aware of Adam Cole's polished skillset, they were reportedly also concerned about his look on the main roster.

"Everyone knew how good he was and their feeling was that he's too small to be big-time," revealed Meltzer.

As noted, WWE wanted Adam Cole to chop off his long hair and become the on-screen manager of Keith Lee.

Meltzer stated that the odd booking idea came from Bruce Prichard and the Wrestling Observer journalist further explained how Vince McMahon has surrounded himself with people who have an outdated approach towards professional wrestling.

"Bruce was the guy with the Adam Cole idea. That's not the guy; that's not the guy you want there…He needs a guy who is a product of the last few years of wrestling who knows the last few years of wrestling and understands today's wrestling, and has a clue of where tomorrow's wrestling is going because today's wrestling doesn't matter. You should be thinking 2024 and 2025 right now. If you're in 1980 then you're going to be even further away," added Dave Meltzer. H/t WrestlingNews.co

WWE reportedly feels it still has the best product in wrestling, and officials don't seem concerned with AEW, who they think will burn out just like WCW.