6 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (October 15)

1. From Parts Unknown… WWE Crown Jewel!

The world events of the last week have landed at WWE’s doorstep in one of the worst ways imaginable. Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi allegedly was murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul recently by Saudis.

The incident has led American leaders to call for severing ties with Saudi Arabia. And with WWE Crown Jewel a little less than three weeks away, you could just see the conflict coming. Crown Jewel was being heavily hyped as taking place in Saudi Arabia, and the two U.S. senators representing Connecticut (where WWE is headquartered) have called on WWE to halt the show.

So what was WWE’s response on Raw Monday night? Constantly promote Crown Jewel throughout the show, but never mention where the PPV is taking place. At a couple points, they mentioned how Super Show-Down occurred in Australia, and then in the next breath noted that Crown Jewel was taking place “on the WWE Network.”

In theory, WWE is leaving itself some wiggle room, as they could move location and keep the PPV and all its matches intact. But it just feels tasteless to vocally promote the PPV for three hours straight and act like by not saying the words “Saudi Arabia” you are avoiding all controversy.

This might look really, really bad for WWE in a week or so. Or it might blow over in some miracle.