According to a new report, neither CM Punk nor Kevin Owens refused to travel to Saudi Arabia for WWE Crown Jewel.
With the ongoing security concerns around travelling to Saudi Arabia relating to tensions and military activity in the Middle East, there has been speculation that Kevin Owens and CM Punk had refused to compete in the kingdom.
The pair are set to face off on the November 6th edition of SmackDown in a No Holds Barred Match. The show will be recorded on November 2nd to allow for talent to travel to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel on November 7th. With such a big bout being left off the event, some thought that Kevin Owens and CM Punk had opted not to travel to Riyadh. However, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the match was never planned for Crown Jewel.
“There are stories around that some guys refused to go, and nobody refused to go. They think because the Punk match with Owens is on SmackDown that those two guys refused to go, and that is absolutely not true.
“I got the original card. The only change is that the tag team title match was gonna be a six-man with Oba, Penta and Je’Von Evans against Bron Breakker, Austin Theory and Bronson Reed. They decided to make it a tag match. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oba and Bronson Reed end up interfering in that tag title match to set up the trios match at a point in the future. I’m not saying for sure that’ll happen. But that is the only change to the card from the card that was originally made a long time ago. So this was always the deal.”
Some WWE Stars Don’t Want To Travel To Saudi Arabia For WWE Crown Jewel
Referring to a recent report from Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, Meltzer went on to say that there are people who don’t want to travel, but added that if Roman Reigns was willing to go, then nobody else would outright refuse.
“Now, if you have read that there’s talent that doesn’t want to go, of course there is, and that’s obviously accurate. I’ve heard from people too, and Sean [Ross] Sapp reported that the people they’ve talked to say they don’t want to go. Of course they don’t.
“Look, Roman’s going, and if Roman’s going, there’s nobody saying no.”
While he won’t appear at Crown Jewel, CM Punk was a surprise addition to the NXT card for November 4th. With the show going head-to-head with AEW Dynamite’s Blood & Guts special, Punk will challenge Grayson Waller for the NXT Title.
