WWE Crown Jewel: No Girlz ALLOWED~!

[sek69]

Their best bet is to just promote the show and try to minimize mentioning anything else. Problem there is that it's clear MBS is giving this money out to make sure the recipients promote how progressive the country is. They are going to expect the full BJ treatment they got last time, and that's going to look ridiculously bad for WWE.

[NintendoLogic]

What about Kane? You'd think an elected official, even a local one, doing business with Saudi Arabia right now would raise some eyebrows.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

  On 10/12/2018 at 2:43 AM, NintendoLogic said:

What about Kane? You'd think an elected official, even a local one, doing business with Saudi Arabia right now would raise some eyebrows.

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I bet the US government is having second thoughts about selling (and helping deliver) the weapons being used by the Saudis to slaughter thousands of Yemeni men, women, and children right about now.

lol jk

[DMJ]

  On 10/11/2018 at 11:55 PM, hammerva said:

Besides it isn't like Triple H and Stephanie are in the sidelines showing outrage about the show.  Vince's silence is expected but their silence is even more noticeable.  Especially as now there is apparently audio and video that proves it was a straight up ambush style murder

The most interesting thing will be how are they are going promote this shit for 3 more weeks without getting in more and more trouble.  I mean maybe they can spend next week devoted to Evolution but I doubt it.  You really think that they are going to low key a show with Shawn Michaels returning to the ring

 

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As a kid, I hated Shawn Michaels so I was vehemently pro-Bret after Montreal. Even as late as 2010, I enjoyed (often drunkenly) trying to chant "You Screwed Bret" chants when I was at shows in Cleveland as most other fans - young and old - looked at me like I was an idiot (which I was). Though, by that point, most of the hate had really subsided and I just found it funny because Michaels had really become this lovable "young grandpa" figure in WWE canon.

So, I know its schadenfreuden-esque, but part of me hopes that Shawn Michaels is the one that gets the most shit for being in Saudi Arabia. We've known the McMahons (and Triple H) have no scruples and only care about the bottom line and the brand. Michaels, though? He's ending his retirement for this. He signed a new contract for this. He made a choice that he would sooner wrestle in Saudi Arabia for, say, a million dollars than wrestle at a WrestleMania for a hundred thousand. So, yeah, I'm fully behind him getting met with "You Sold Out" or, if someone more clever than me can come up with something involving the words "blood money" or "Kashoggi," that'd be great too.

What will be interesting is that as I wrote above, the McMahons care about two things - the bottom line and the brand (remember Steph saying "Philanthropy is the future of PR") - but here they have a Sophie's Choice decision to make. That Saudi money is BIG and the contract goes for 10 years, but their brand could take a major hit here and potentially in the future. And we haven't brought up the McMahons' longtime friend in chief.....

[El-P]

  On 10/12/2018 at 4:25 PM, DMJ said:

So, yeah, I'm fully behind him getting met with "You Sold Out" or, if someone more clever than me can come up with something involving the words "blood money" or "Kashoggi," that'd be great too.

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He'll probably get "You've still got it" and "You deserve it" chants back in the US instead.

(On a side note, I find it quite ironic yet totally logical (when you actually think about it) that the born-again christian would come back for a huge fat check from the wahhabis...)

[WingedEagle]

https://ijr.com/senators-wwe-saudi-arabia-event-crown-jewl/

Now we're getting somewhere.  Still don't think I'd bet on any major audibles, but the timing was bound to bring some unsolicited attention and scrutiny.

[Loss]

Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I'm rooting for it to blow up in their faces. WWE never suffers meaningful consequences for anything and has a habit of falling up. For once, it would be nice for them to get what they deserve for doing the wrong thing.

[Strummer]

A bunch of outlets have picked up the story.  At this point I'd be pretty shocked if this show isn't cancelled.  This is a potential PR nightmare for the company.

 

bunch of networks and businesses have pulled out of doing business with Saudi Arabia as well

[WingedEagle]

  On 10/13/2018 at 12:12 AM, Charles (Loss) said:

Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I'm rooting for it to blow up in their faces. WWE never suffers meaningful consequences for anything and has a habit of falling up. For once, it would be nice for them to get what they deserve for doing the wrong thing.

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Nothing wrong with hoping people face appropriate consequences that may arise from their actions.  I'm not holding my breath, but it would be a refreshing change.

[Coffey]

  On 10/13/2018 at 12:12 AM, Charles (Loss) said:

Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I'm rooting for it to blow up in their faces. WWE never suffers meaningful consequences for anything and has a habit of falling up. For once, it would be nice for them to get what they deserve for doing the wrong thing.

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Eh, no worries. I think you're just stating the sentiment that a lot of us feel. You can tell that even a lot of the talent weren't comfortable last time, let alone wanting to do this twice a year for a decade. I understand WWE is a business but even corporate greed should have a freaking moral line-in-the-sand SOMEWHERE. Ya know?

[Childs]

I think I'm done with WWE if they go through with this show. It's an arbitrary line given all the awful shit they've done over the years. But enough.

[Stiva]

Part of me hopes that WWE continues to be grossly tone deaf with things like this because I would REALLY like to see the press release that gets released in WWE-speak after the show goes ahead.

FWIW, I think they will cancel or quickly move the show elsewhere. I think there's enough time to go before the show that, as the news continues to circulate, they'll realise how bad a decision it will be to run it. Having said that, I think they'll be back in Saudi Arabia next year after it all dies down.

[FMKK]

I wonder what, if anything, some of the talent make of all this. At the very least, you'd think some of the guys like Bryan, Rusev, Jimmy Uso and Ambrose would be pissed at having to travel all that way without their wives being allowed to come.

[El-P]

"As an independant contractor (wink wink nudge nudge), I'm not doing this show, thank you very much."

Now, THAT would be cool.

[FMKK]

  On 10/13/2018 at 10:16 AM, El-P said:

"As an independant contractor (wink wink nudge nudge), I'm not doing this show, thank you very much."

Now, THAT would be cool.

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If ever there was a time for someone to pull that card, it's now when there's actually a bit of media attention on the company.

[Makai Club #1]

  On 10/13/2018 at 10:16 AM, El-P said:

"As an independant contractor (wink wink nudge nudge), I'm not doing this show, thank you very much."

Now, THAT would be cool.

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So like RVD not going to the troops show in the mid 00's?

[NintendoLogic]

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/12/knox-mayor-kane-wwe-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-disappearance/1612304002/

  Quote

When asked for comment, Jacobs' spokesman Rob Link said the mayor's plans to wrestle at the event have not changed. "Mayor Jacobs won't speculate on Mr. Khashoggi's disappearance," Link said. "However, he and his family are in the mayor's thoughts and prayers."

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He must think he's bulletproof, because I can't imagine someone who cared about public opinion putting out a statement this tone-deaf.

[El-P]

  On 10/13/2018 at 2:06 PM, Makai Club #1 said:

So like RVD not going to the troops show in the mid 00's?

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This story in the Prichard story was quite interesting indeed.

  On 10/13/2018 at 3:05 PM, NintendoLogic said:

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/12/knox-mayor-kane-wwe-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-disappearance/1612304002/

He must think he's bulletproof, because I can't imagine someone who cared about public opinion putting out a statement this tone-deaf.

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After 30 years of sucking in the ring, Kane now sucks at politics.

[Loss]

I could have sworn that one of his campaign promises was that he would stop wrestling completely if he won.

[Mattsdmf]

I’m glad that I decided to unsubscribe to the WWE Network.  If or when I become interested in wrestling again, there’s other places I can check it out without giving that company a dime.

[sek69]

  On 10/13/2018 at 4:24 PM, Charles (Loss) said:

I could have sworn that one of his campaign promises was that he would stop wrestling completely if he won.

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IIRC his opponent tried to say if he won he'd spend all his time in WWE and not running the town, and his response was if he won he would devote his time to the office and not wrestling.  To the surprise of no one, that has not been the case so far.

[DMJ]

  On 10/13/2018 at 10:16 AM, El-P said:

"As an independant contractor (wink wink nudge nudge), I'm not doing this show, thank you very much."

Now, THAT would be cool.

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That would be very cool, but I, unfortunately, understand the bad position the company put the roster in and don't necessarily hold them super accountable. Refusing to do the show will piss of the boss(es), maybe cost them their livelihood, and while there used to be at least a modicum of hope that one could overcome the bosses' personal dislike by getting over with the live crowds in a grassroots fashion, those days are gone. On the list of people/groups one needs to be over with to keep their job, the general American audience isn't even in the top 5. That point's been made in multiple other threads here.

That's why my anger is being directed towards Shawn Michaels and I would really like to see that anger gather steam among other fans too. Like the McMahons, at least with Kane we've known this dude was a "me first" Libertarian who doesn't necessarily see the problems (human rights violations) in certain Middle East countries as something the US should be entangled in. "If corporations, like the WWE, do business there, its their right and choice," he'd likely say. So, with Kane, we can call him a lot of things but not necessarily a hypocrite. Michaels, on the other hand, wrote a whole book about his faith and values, but is showing his true colors here. Fuck that dude.

[Loss]

Shawn doesn't look good of course, but I'm really big on keeping blame for this stuff at the very top. Vince McMahon has this entirely in his hands. Any praise or criticism for what happens next should 100% go on him.

[Migs]

My best guess at this point is we'll hear about the cancellation Monday, and if they end up moving the show instead of cancelling it, we'll hear about that Monday night.

They're in a pretty odd position now, where they've promoted Michaels returning, but it was clearly set up with the Saudi money as the reason. Do they simply bite the loss and pay Michaels a big number to work a replacement show? Or Survivor Series? Weasel out somehow? 

[Alucard]

  On 10/14/2018 at 1:18 AM, Migs said:

They're in a pretty odd position now, where they've promoted Michaels returning, but it was clearly set up with the Saudi money as the reason. Do they simply bite the loss and pay Michaels a big number to work a replacement show? Or Survivor Series? Weasel out somehow? 

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It has sounded like this return was going to lead to Shawn doing another match at Survivor Series then maybe something at the Rumble leading to him working WM 35 as well but it might all be up in the air still.