We’ve seen how much the landscape of the WWE changed under the direction of TKO, following the merger with the UFC a few years ago. Vince McMahon, the emperor of sports entertainment, was exiled in disgrace, prompting Triple H to be moved into the seat at the head of the table for the direction of the pro wrestling portion of the conglomerate. Of course, we’ve heard that chatter about how TKO executives will occasionally weigh in with their opinions on WWE creative, infamously inserting Pat McAfee into last year’s main event storyline for an angle that flopped so bad that McAfee stepped away from the business entirely. It was a ham-handed attempt to manufacture buzz when the reality was that the insane ticket prices were the reason behind sluggish sales. McAfee was a victim of circumstances, the guy did what he was asked to do, it’s not his fault that the premise was completely flawed.
However, the effects of corporate ownership are a different discussion for a different time.
The point is that TKO is totally focused on generating as much revenue as possible, regardless of if it could have a detrimental effect on the fan base or the product on a long term basis. That’s not exclusive to sports entertainment, that’s often the meat grinder mentality of corporate America, there will be casualties in pursuit of the cash.
But, that brings up the question, where do we draw the line?
Sure, we’ve seen people lose their life savings in the stock market, the local small businesses get steamrolled by the big box stores, independently-owned restaurants are forced to shut their doors after years in existence, and citizens forced into bankruptcy if the insurance company denies coverage after a medical emergency. At the end of the day, that’s the other side of the coin of capitalism, it’s the price to pay for innovation and the ability to control a portion of the global economy that can often be leveraged in America’s favor. As much as there are horrendous aspects to ruthless capitalism, the modern conveniences it provides become much more important to the average American than to boycott on a purist principle. The ability for Amazon to get packages to your house within two days, the fact that you’re rarely going to find an iPhone out of stock if you accidentally drop it in the toilet, and the opportunity to pay for almost any modern day convenience is because capitalism is the primary force behind it all.
The pursuit of the almighty dollar makes it possible.
That’s why the WWE’s deal with Saudi Arabia is very concerning, especially with the conflicts around the global that are much more important than who wins a fictitious championship. Just a few days ago, amid the ongoing conflict between The United States and Iran, Yemen’s Houthi forces attacked Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia and the location of many of the WWE events in the country. There’s speculation that the attacks on Saudi Arabia could be based on the country’s alliance with the United States, particularly when it comes to importing entertainment as we’ve seen over the past several years, and there’s discussion about if Iran’s ties with Yemen could’ve prompted the attacks.
As we know, western sports groups and entertainment acts have been a staple of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s propaganda spin for almost a decade. Boxing, golf, pro wrestling and theme parks were used to in an attempt to reshape the image of the country. The murder of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi was a reminder that not nearly as much had changed from the repressive past of the region, but for tens of millions of dollars, many people are willing to look the other way. Those millions will even buy you an apology from CM Punk because it’s okay to take the blood money when it’s going into your pocket, right Phil?
Outside of the Liv golf league falling apart earlier this month, the oil money that Saudi is willing to spend has garnered the region at least some level of notoriety to deflect the restrictive narrative of its past. Even though the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terrance Crawford super fight last year was held in Las Vegas, the home base of the UFC, the mixed martial arts portion of TKO, and streamed on Netflix, the WWE’s media partner, Saudi was represented in the promotion of the fight since it has Canelo inked to a hefty contract. Of course, as we know, next year’s Wrestlemania was already announced for Saudi Arabia, with the rumored number somewhere around $100 million for the rights to import the event, which would make it the most lucrative Wrestlemania in history. There’s no doubt that $100 million is an astonishing amount of cash, but to put it in perspective, that number covers one fight for Canelo Alvarez, who inked a four-fight deal with the Saudi government worth $400 in February of last year.
The bottom line is, until the oil well runs dry, and that doesn’t look to be anytime within the next several decades, Saudi Arabia is going to spend more money than anyone else to continue to bring events to their region. In theory, the totality of bringing the myriad of entertainment acts there is supposedly designed to spur tourism, but propaganda material is the realistic result.
The concerning part of all of this is that in the aftermath of the Yemen attacks, the United States issued a level 3 travel warning for anyone that would want to travel to Saudi Arabia, which is a technical way of saying that the area is deemed too dangerous for travel so anyone should reconsider their trip there. Some online immediately began to speculate about the status of Wrestlemania since it’s the biggest event on the calendar, but I don’t think that should be the topic of discussion. The reality is, Wrestlemania is next year, and it’s important to keep in mind that an exact date hasn’t been announced yet so the WWE has much more flexibility with the concept of WM outside of North America since it’s basically a bought show, it’s not as though any of the WWE events in the country are known for fans traveling to Saudi Arabia. Wrestlemania 43 will be a local crowd so it doesn’t matter when the show is scheduled for, it could be promoted a few months in advance instead of being announced the year prior the way it usually is when it’s in the United States.
The much more concerning part of all of this is the notion that the Crown Jewel pay-per-view is scheduled to take place in toughly a month and a half. It’s not only entirely possible, but the with the current conflicts in that part of the world, the odds are that it will probably still be continue by the first week of November. Yes, the Saudi events are the most lucrative on the WWE calendar, as it’s known that the company gets somewhere around $40 million for each of these shows, but given the travel advisories, shouldn’t this be a situation where TKO postpones the event until some of those precautions are lifted? This isn’t just speculation because of general instability within the region the way that there was previously, the United States government officially advises against it.
A stadium full of fans with well-known American entertainers in the building is too much of a risk, at least in my opinion. Yes, the Saudi government will have security there since many of the government officials are usually in attendance, but is there truly a way to ensure the safety of the performers when drones and missiles can be used for attacks? As we know, Trump is close with UFC president, Dana White, and has long ties with the WWE, specifically with Linda McMahon as the head of the Department of Education so God forbid there was some type of tragedy in Riyadh, there would be support from the United States, but it’s not as though the military is going to escort pro wrestlers to the other side of the world to make sure that nothing happens.
Yes, TKO has proven that they will do anything for the cash, but they already have billions of dollars in guaranteed money from there media rights deals. Even for another $40 million payday for Crown Jewel, will it truly make a difference within the scope of the entire conglomerate? This is a situation where there are too many red flags, and the lives of the performers would be at risk to some level, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the event remains scheduled as planned since cash will be the determining factor more than anything else for the TKO corporation.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
