Gunther Reportedly Opted Not To Go To Saudi Arabia For Crown Jewel 2026

Dave Meltzer reported in a special preview edition of this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Gunther had decided against going to Saudi Arabia for this past Saturday’s WWE Crown Jewel 2026 event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Meltzer reported that Gunther’s refusal to travel for the event led to WWE officials dropping their plans for a Gunther vs. Demon Finn Balor match to be part of the card for Crown Jewel.

Multiple sources within WWE reportedly confirmed Gunther’s refusal to go to Saudi Arabia while others spoken stated that they also believed it to be true. One source spoken to reportedly stated that the situation with Gunther went back-and-forth and everything on WWE television was going in that direction.

Meltzer also reported that there was talk within WWE about Balor was not thrilled to go to Saudi Arabia as well but the belief was that he would have gone if Gunther would have gone for the event.

Meltzer also reported that several people within WWE had stated leading up to the show of the belief that talent could no longer turn down going to Saudi Arabia for shows as people had done in the past but this turned out to not be the case, at least with someone high up on star status.

Meltzer also reported that prior to Crown Jewel 2026, there were no situations involving the Saudi shows where talent had not gone but the reason for the change for this year’s event was due to the war going on in Saudi Arabia made talent concerned for completely different reasons than during the early years of the WWE and Saudi relationship.