Solving The WWE Crown Jewel Problem

I’ll just preface by saying that what I am about to propose is not an original idea. I have to give Jason “The Solomonster” Solomon credit for discussing this on his podcast and I believe it makes a world of sense.

We don’t like to get political here at The Wrestling Estate, though if you follow any of our writers and personalities, ideology has a way of showing through the translucent veneer that is Twitter. But I don’t want to get into right vs. wrong, or even right vs. left. Instead, I’d like to propose that we make Survivor Series Great Again and for the WWE to move and rebrand its upcoming Crown Jewel event as Survivor Series 2018.

If you’re the type of person who is even mildly in the know, you’re probably aware of the news story making the rounds that the Saudi Arabian government allegedly dismembered one of its own journalists, and the evidence has reportedly come to pass. What does this have to do with wrestling? Well, WWE is heading into its second event of the Saudi Arabia mega deal that is set to net them more than half-a-billion dollars and the company is now relying on that money to line their pockets as ridiculous guaranteed rights deals continue to dummy down the television product. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has reported that while WWE only stands to profit $3 million at most from Crown Jewel due to production costs, the expectation is that the profit margin will be much greater on future shows so this show is needed to link it all together.

That said, I’ve heard from a laundry list of sources that the talent is not keen on making the trip. Once again, the women are not invited and you have to believe that WWE will be expected to play more propaganda clips about “progressive Saudi Arabia” during the broadcast, which by the way, are a fucking trip, though maybe not as much as the leaked videos of the dinner party between Saudi officials and WWE Superstars.

HHH, Vince, Taker, Lesnar and WWE Superstrars at a dinner in Saudi Arabiain pic.twitter.com/09eB1z7TRR
— Asmaa (@AsmaaAli_Z) April 26, 2018

That puts WWE between a rock and hard place. Take the money? Do the right thing? Honestly, I can see both sides of it. WWE is not a human rights company, and doesn’t have any political affiliation. WWE’s two goals are 1.) to entertain and 2.) to make money, and boy do they stand to make a lot of money here. But everybody and their mother are disgusted with the Saudi leaders right now, and perhaps rightfully so. The company is certainly cognizant of this belief and the criticism it has received, as it sent Jibble on Varney and Co. on Fox Business to justify the trip as a way to “change the Saudi Arabian culture,” comparing the situation to U.S. intervention in Vietnam. I think that’s a massive stretch, but I digress. I guess I just want them to be honest. If the money is too much to walk away from, that’s okay! Not everybody is so pious to have a complete disrespect for that kind of honesty. Nevertheless, it seems as though the event will go on as planned.

But what if it didn’t? What if WWE decided to listen to fans, talent and media and decided to suspend its deal in Saudi Arabia until the Jamal Khashoggi situation meets a resolution? Easy. Rebrand WWE Crown Jewel as Survivor Series 2018.

Mind you, I’m not just saying this because Survivor Series is in Los Angeles this year, though it did cross my mind. The attitude of “we’re going to put more effort and time into the Saudi Arabian events because they’re giving us the money and we’re going to water down everything else not named WrestleMania or SummerSlam because we just don’t give a shit” is ultimately going to have an adverse effect on the fans in the long run. Raw is borderline unwatchable EXCEPT when the company gives you something compelling to tune in for. Even then, it’s a three-hour show and one great storyline will not hold you over.

Anyway, let’s look at what’s booked. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman? Sign me up. AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan? Sign me up. Shawn Michaels COMING OUT OF RETIREMENT to team with Triple H to take on the Brothers of Destruction? Sign me up! A WWE World Cup to “determine the best in the world?” Sign me the hell up, though, I’m not really sure what that means for the prestige of the world titles. Either way, there’s a lot going on here. A dream match for the WWE Championship and the return of Shawn Michaels, who had one of the best wrestling retirements of all time? Were WWE to pull out of the event, it would be poor business to rob the fans of what they were promised, and you can’t just re-retire Michaels after announcing this match, especially since I considerably doubt this match is the only one on his new deal. Here’s where the rock and the hard place comes in. Are you going to pay HBK with money you don’t have? Well, yes, you are. That’s customer service 101. When the movie gets cancelled because of a fire in the building, you comp customers their next movie (this actually happened to me when seeing The Phantom Menace with my dad).

And the truth is folks, Survivor Series has lost its punch. Remember it was the mutant TLC pay-per-view that overshadowed Series last year, all because it gave the fans what they wanted to see with Christmas coming early for Kurt Angle fans and a showdown between the first two leaders of the Bullet Club. It’s not a difficult formula for success, and anyone that says the critical reception of the product isn’t important is full of it. Wrestling could be twice as popular as it is now if Raw was actually good, and Roman Reigns SHOULD be twice the star that he is if he was only handled properly. A lot of people will point to the television rights deals and say it doesn’t matter what the WWE puts on TV. Those people are wrong.

The reality is that WWE is about as American as spaghetti and meatballs. Money or no money, can you honestly say the “progressive and beautiful nation of Saudi Arabia” deserves better than Los Angeles? I can’t, and that’s not just because I live in Pasadena. The WWE needs to stop short changing its proud American cities in favor of financial interests because when you short change the fans, you insult the fans, and with no fans, there’s no business to come back to. I liked the Greatest Royal Rumble card on paper more than this year’s WrestleMania! That’s a huge problem. But can you imagine what the response would be like if we got a card like Crown Jewel on a Survivor Series or even a SummerSlam? I cannot, and that is why IF WWE is looking to save some face, it needs to give us Crown Jewel at Survivor Series. And even if Crown Jewel goes down as planned and Survivor Series sucks, the true Survivor Series will be yet to come, when we see just how much of the Saudi Arabia deal WWE can fulfill before the bad PR boils over.