Because it wasn’t clear if the show would take place in Saudi Arabia until late
10/24, they continued to advertise the planned matches even though it was known
John Cena wasn’t going to Saudi Arabia, and there were stories floating that
Daniel Bryan wasn’t either.
When it was clear that the show would take place, and that neither Cena nor
Bryan were changing their minds, both issues were addressed this week.
On Raw, they did an awkward segment where Baron Corbin announced Bobby Lashley
would be put in the World Cup tournament in place of Cena, noting Cena never
qualified in the first place.
On Smackdown, they did the scheduled A.J. Styles vs. Bryan title match, had
Styles win clean by submission with a calf crusher, had Samoa Joe take out
Styles and changed to Styles vs. Joe.
The belief is that Cena was advised with his transition from wrestling to
Hollywood that it would be looked at negatively in that world if he did a show
in Saudi Arabia right now. For his career, pulling out was probably the smart
move. He never said anything public as he’ll never do anything to damage the WWE
and create a bigger controversy. But evidently, whether it was moral grounds or
his growing career outside of wrestling, he made his decision.
He’s also a big enough star that he’s bullet proof if and when he wants to come
back that there won’t be any reprisals for making this call.
Bryan’s situation was a little more complicated. He did the first show in April,
like most of the roster, with little or no knowledge of what it was about.
Wrestlers wrestle all over the world. They come and they leave. Going to the
Middle East isn’t unusual. In fact, Sami Zayn, who was banned from the Greatest
Royal Rumble for being Syrian in ancestry, had wrestled on a prior sow years
earlier in Saudi Arabia.
The wrestlers were told it was a big show, but they weren’t told it would be a
long propaganda commercial, and for the most part, even if they felt it was
tasteless, there’s a lot of that in wrestling, even though this was at a very
different from usual level.
Most understood what the deal was all about before the show took place and when
they were already in Saudi Arabia, as they were encouraged to do videos and sing
the praises of the kingdom. Some did it. It’s their job. Some tried to avoid
doing them in as tactful of a way as possible while avoiding creating any
controversy, since that does you no good in WWE.
Evidently Bryan, who knew little or nothing about Saudi Arabia until he got
there, largely felt he couldn’t go back under those circumstances. It wasn’t so
much that the women weren’t allowed to perform, even though he’s married to a
woman wrestler and has a sister-in-law who wrestles. But the key was what he
learned about the treatment of homosexuals, and also, that they wouldn’t allow
Sami Zayn to perform on the show, and he considered that racism.
It was not the current controversy over Khashoggi that evidently made him make
his decision, although one would think it made him feel more strongly that his
decision wasn’t wrong.
He had asked to lose to The Miz in Australia in the match where the winner would
get the title shot. It’s not clear if that was because he knew the title shot
was coming in Saudi Arabia, or because he felt that it wasn’t time yet to get
his conclusive win which would come across as the blow-off of the program.
When he told McMahon he wasn’t going, both agreed to keep it a secret from
everyone, although it was first reported by Robbie Fox seven days later.
Everyone knew the rumor, but nobody could confirm or deny it. Even the top
people in the company knew, but weren’t given answers about it. Creative
continued the program each week as if they were doing the match, not told
otherwise.
By last week, since the feeling was that it was less than 50 percent the show
would take place in Saudi Arabia, the feeling was there was no point in changing
the booking.
After the decision was made for the show to take place, an alternative plan was
discussed. The idea was to have the Styles vs. Bryan title match at a technology
center near the Performance Center in an empty arena match. At one point the
match was to be taped ahead of time and inserted into the show. At another point
there was talk of doing it live. The ring at the technology center is filmed in
a way to look like it’s in whatever building they need it to be in, similar to a
green screen. The idea is if they did it live, they could make it appear to be
taking place in Saudi Arabia, or it could just be an empty arena match. The plan
was not to air it before the people in Saudi Arabia but for those watching on
the WWE Network. The problem is that would have caused even more controversy
after the fact. Trying to fool the viewing audience is something that would get
out and cause controversy. An empty arena match with no fan reaction would also
be very difficult in this day and age. Since the key was they didn’t want a
media story of people in the company who weren’t toting the party line, even if
Bryan wasn’t about to talk to the media on the subject, there would still be an
obvious story to jump on.
So in the end, the decision was changed over the last few days to what
transpired on the 10/30 Smackdown show, where Styles vs. Bryan would take place,
Styles would win clean and Samoa Joe would attack Styles and lead to the Styles
vs. Joe match in Saudi Arabia.
All of this was kept secret from all but a few. On the Smackdown format sheet,
they listed a Styles/Bryan in-ring segment to open the show. The format listed
“match” going through two segments as opposed to listing who was in the match. I
guess the feeling was if the new plan for Styles vs. Joe was known, the story
would be that Bryan pulled out. If it wasn’t known, this was just them shooting
an angle on television with the idea it was just the plan all along and nobody
pulled out of doing the show.
Because of that, the finish, Styles winning by submission with a calf crusher,
something almost unheard of for a main event babyface to lose via clean
submission on a televised event (it’s very rare even on a PPV show) is not known
whether this was punishment or not. The idea is it was simply ending one program
and moving on to the next. But since it was television, they just as easily
could have had Joe get involved and left the finish more open-ended, to keep
interest alive in Bryan’s quest for the title. Since Bryan’s return in March,
that had been the character’s clear goal, and it was unique to blow it off as
cleanly as it was, as quickly as it was. And after losing via submission, Bryan
was also choked out by Joe when he tried to save Styles.
It’s hard to believe that all wasn’t a message to the rest of the talent.
Bryan wasn’t the only one, and probably not a minority in his viewpoint on the
issue. It’s still a surprise he was willing to take the risk by refusing to go,
since only Cena, who is bullet-proof, was willing to do so.
Don Daniel Bryan, quien sabía poco o nada sobre Arabia hasta que llegó en Abril, sintió que no podía regresar. No fue el hecho que las mujeres no pudieran competir, sino porque cachó como tratan a los homosexuales, y también, que Sami Zayn no pudo participar en el show, por ser sirio, lo que consideró racismo.
