Backstage Update On John Cena's WWE Crown Jewel Status
It looks like John Cena has not changed his mind on working the WWE Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia on Friday, November 2.
It was recently reported that Cena and Daniel Bryan had informed WWE officials that they would not be working Crown Jewel, presumably due to WWE controversially working with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There had been no updates on Bryan's status but it was reported that WWE creative was told to look for a replacement for Cena on Monday of this week.
Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports reported today that Cena is still 100% off the show. The update comes on the same day that WWE officially announced that the show will go on as scheduled in the Kingdom. John Pollock reports that WWE creative does have a replacement for Cena in mind. Pollock adds that it should be noted how he was not given a specific reason on Cena's removal from Crown Jewel, but it's believed to be due to the controversy surrounding the disappearance & murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
WWE officials were still hopeful that Cena would change his mind, which is why he was still being advertised for the World Cup tournament on RAW and SmackDown this week. Fox reported today that there has been no change on Cena's end.
Still awaiting confirmation on Bryan, but John Cena is still 100% off the show.
As reported by @iamjohnpollock, the WWE were hopeful they'd come to terms with Cena, but there's been zero change on John's end.
? Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) October 25, 2018