Despite WWE continuing to advertise John Cena for the WWE Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, the 16-time WWE Champion is off the show. According to a report by John Pollock over at POST Wrestling, Cena is not willing to budge on doing the event (where he was scheduled to compete in the World Cup tournament). He recently came under scrutiny by the media on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight since he cut a pro-Saudi promo during the WWE’s previous trip to Saudi Arabia this year at the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
The company previously issued a statement on the rumors that both Daniel Bryan and John Cena were refusing to work the show after the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. While neither confirming or denying that superstars were refusing to work the show, the response said that the company maintains “an open line of communication with our performers and will address each situation accordingly.”
There’s currently no update on Daniel Bryan’s situation, who is currently scheduled to wrestle AJ Styles for the WWE Championship.
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