WWE Returning To Saudi Arabia For Shows In 2019, WWE Crown Jewel Bonus Payments Sent
WWE officials are working on plans to return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2019.
WWE currently has May 2019 and November 2019 penciled in for events in the Kingdom, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. There's no word yet on if these will be featured WWE Network specials but it's likely.
On a related note, The Observer reports that bonuses from the Crown Jewel event just came in. It was noted that the reaction was mixed, with some talents being happy with their bonus pay while others weren't.
WWE signed a lucrative ten-year deal with Saudi Arabia's General Sport Authority earlier this year and held their first event under the new deal in April, the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah. WWE returned to the Kingdom in November for Crown Jewel, held in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Crown Jewel was surrounded by controversy and calls to cancel the event due to the state-sponsored murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. WWE went ahead with the event and confirmed in an investors call that they were planning on returning to the Kingdom in 2019. It's been reported that the GRR event brought in somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 – $50 million for the company.