WWE Crown Jewel is seven weeks away, and the U.S. State Department is telling Americans to reconsider travel to Saudi Arabia. The department reissued its Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” advisory for the kingdom on September 15, citing the risk of Iranian drone and missile targeting of American interests, armed conflict, terrorism, exit bans, and local laws regarding social media activity.
The rating itself isn’t new. Saudi Arabia has held Level 3 through several updates this year, and the September 15 revision changed the advisory summary, not the level or the risk indicators. The area along the Yemen border remains at Level 4, “Do Not Travel.”
What changed is the backdrop. On the same day the advisory was reissued, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a Houthi drone headed for Mecca, setting off the city’s first security alert since 2017. The coalition also said Houthi strikes injured 13 people in Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Taif.
The Houthis deny targeting Mecca. On Wednesday, they claimed an attack on an Aramco facility in Yanbu.
Where WWE Stands On Crown Jewel
Crown Jewel is set for Saturday, November 7 at Riyadh Season Stadium in the King Abdullah Financial District. WWE has already built its November schedule around the trip, with PWInsider reporting the company will tape Raw and SmackDown together at the Barclays Center on November 2 before the roster flies out.
PWInsider also reports the belief inside WWE is that Roman Reigns against Sami Zayn will headline, and that Zayn’s WWE Championship win over CM Punk on the September 11 SmackDown was made with that match in mind.
WWE hasn’t announced any change. Its public line on Saudi travel was set in April, when WWE President Nick Khan addressed a TKO town hall ahead of Night of Champions, in audio obtained by POST Wrestling.
“We’re only going if it’s safe or if we’re allowed there,” Khan told staff. “If U.S. citizens are allowed in at this moment in time, it is declared and deemed safe, we’ll all be going there.”
Night of Champions went ahead in Riyadh on June 27 under the same Level 3 rating, after WWE confirmed its Saudi events were moving forward. A Level 3 advisory isn’t a ban, so the “allowed” half of Khan’s test is met. The “deemed safe” half is the call WWE now has to make again.
The Money Behind The Trip
The advisory came up on the September 17 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, where Bryan Alvarez pointed to roughly $60 million tied to the Saudi show. Dave Meltzer, who described the advisory in stronger terms than the official Level 3 wording, said a missed date wouldn’t wipe that money out.
“If somehow they can’t go, they just add another date at the end of the contract,” Meltzer said. “It’s not like it’s going to cost them any money.”
WWE’s 10-year partnership with Saudi Arabia began in 2018, and it brings WrestleMania 43 to Riyadh next year, the first WrestleMania held outside the United States or Canada.
