41 Most Disgusting Promotional Tactics In Wrestling History RANKED

2. 2018/2019/2024 - WWE Performs Propaganda For The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia

CM Punk John Cena Basic Punkanomics
WWE.com

A perennial and richly-deserved award winner, the vote reflects how we should never forget the ugly nature of WWE’s relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The idea, ongoing since 2018, is to portray Saudi Arabia as a “progressive” country, fairly ruled, and sports-wash away its reputation as a murderous regime. This is rather difficult, when Saudi won’t cease the murdering.

In the very month this copy was written - June 2025 - the company’s Ministry of Interior announced that it had executed journalist Turki al-Jasser on grounds of “high treason”. The journalist had been detained for seven years and denied legal representation for reporting on allegations of corruption within the royal family. This of course followed the gruesome murder and dismemberment of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, justice for whom never followed, who disappeared in Istanbul’s Saudi consulate on October 2. WWE presented the Crown Jewel pay-per-view a month later.

The thing is, sadly, it is easy to forget. Yes, the propaganda exercise receives a lot of votes - but what does that mean, really?

Nothing.

The sportswashing exercise has worked. The Saudi shows have been normalised; people are now calloused to it. There is a finite amount of awful things we can deal with before taking any more psychic damage. Our brain almost defends itself from this sort of thing eventually.

WWE was ghoulishly smart. The approach was insidious. If a full-scale rejection or protest was ever likely, it might have happened had the operation launched with WrestleMania. That would have been sacred. It didn’t; the first “Saudi show” was Greatest Royal Rumble, an outwardly daft event you were not meant to take too seriously. Then, over time, the canon events entered the schedule as your raw feelings hardened in parallel. A Big 4 PLE is set to debut in the Kingdom in 2026. WrestleMania is inevitable; by the time it happens, it will feel normal.

This is legitimately one of the worst things WWE has ever done - but at this point, what can you do?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!