Backstage Update on WWE’s Reaction to Some Employees Being Wary About Traveling to Saudi Arabia For Crown Jewel & Possible Backup Venue

As previously reported, several people within WWE have allegedly expressed reservations about traveling to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel 2026 in the wake of the ongoing unrest in the Middle East.

Despite that, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque put out a match graphic for the November 7 event, indicating that the promotion plans to go ahead with the PLE. Earlier this week, Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio (WOR) that backstage personnel aren’t happy about the situation. More on that HERE.

On Thursday’s edition of WOR [via F4WOnline], Meltzer claimed that WWE is not pleased with some of its non-wrestling employees expressing concerns about traveling to Saudi Arabia.

“I heard that WWE wasn’t thrilled that some of the employees, non-wrestlers, did actually talk about not wanting to go because they want that united front. And not one wrestler said a word, which doesn’t surprise me because if they did, there would be repercussions. It’d be stupid to do so. It’s not your fight. But I would expect that they can’t be thrilled about this,” Meltzer said.

Bryan Avarez reported earlier this week that WWE is considering locking in a backup location in the US in case Crown Jewel needs to be moved at the last moment. However, PWInsider Elite subsequently reported there has been no conversation within WWE about moving the PLE to another location. The report added that the promotion is waiting for clearance from a private security firm to go ahead with the scheduled plans.

Meltzer addressed Alvarez’s report, stating that even if WWE has a backup venue in consideration, the company will never acknowledge it publicly. He continued:

“They will not even publicly say that there’s a backup plan, there is, but they can’t publicly say it because if they publicly say it, it sounds like they’re wavering on going. And they can’t have that out because then the Saudis and Turki will be very upset at them for having that out. That’s why no one talks about the idea of a backup plan, and they deny it. But to not have a backup plan, you would have to be incompetent, and if there is anything that the people that run WWE are, incompetent is not one of those things.”

As things stand, WWE Crown Jewel 2026 is slated to take place at the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, November 7.