WWE Returning To Saudi Arabia For Crown Jewel This October

WWE's return to Saudi Arabia reportedly now finally set in stone.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Crown Jewel Logo
WWE.com

Following previous rumblings, it looks as though WWE is indeed heading back to Saudi Arabia this coming October.

As per Mike Johnson of PWInsider, WWE is planning to hold Crown Jewel 2021 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday 21 October. This will be the third edition of the Crown Jewel event, following in the footsteps of shows in 2018 and 2019.

While the official decision on this date was reportedly made last week, Mat Men's Andrew Zarian had speculated several weeks prior that just such a Saudi return was being looked at for that date. Zarian also more recently noted that this show will also see the finals of both the next King of the Ring tournament and the first ever Queen of the Ring tourney.

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The last time WWE ran a show in Saudi Arabia was February 2020's Super ShowDown special which saw Goldberg defeat 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt in less than three minutes to become the new Universal Champion.

WWE has a ten-year deal in place to run two events a year in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, although those plans have obviously been hit by the travel restrictions in place across the past 16 months or so. Due to this, that ten-year deal is believed to have been extended to tack-on the shows that should've taken place since Super ShowDown.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.