Many questions remain surrounding WWE Crown Jewel 2026 as the company and its stars prepare to travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a little over a week amid ongoing tensions, missile strikes and travel advisories in the Middle East. According to a new report, no WWE talent has asked to be held back, however.
According to Dave Meltzer The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer NewsletterAlthough rumors are swirling around the internet about several stars such as Kevin Owens and S. Meltzer noted that there are also no reports that that option was ever given to talent by the company.
The unnamed star told Meltzer that WWE told them that refusing to travel to Riyadh for the Crown Jewel was “very discouraged.” There have been minimal changes to the event, which, just eight days later, appears to be proceeding as planned. Meltzer has previously explained incentives for the company going through the show in the kingdom.
One change surrounding Crown Jewel, however, is its venue. Although event will remain in Riyadh, it will now stem from The Venuegated location in the city 35 minutes from King Khalid International Airport which recently was hit by a rocket, killing 12 and injuring hundreds. Previously, the premium live event was scheduled to be held in a temporary outdoor venue.
No further information has been released regarding the travel of WWE and its staff and stars. Meltzer noted earlier in the week, as originally stated Ariel Helvani reportsthat the athletes fighting on the Zuffa Boxing card featuring Canelo Alvarez on Saturday flew into Bahrain Airport and then drove hours to Riyadh.
