WWE Crown Jewel: Saudi Arabia event through eyes of a woman

Women wrestlers were not allowed to participate in the two WWE events that took place in Saudi Arabia. But female viewers were allowed to sit in the audience for the first time in the country.

WWE held their Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. (Source: Instagram/natgeo/@tasneemalsultan)

Despite controversies over the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s, the WWE decided to go ahead with the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. With women not allowed to participate in the ring in the country, a fan, who attended the show in Saud University in Riyadh, shared her experiences. The official page of National Geographic shared images from a Saudi woman Tasneem Alsulta, in which she talked about the WWE’s event from the eyes of a woman attendee.

“I recently attended the WWE’s wrestling show in Saudi Arabia, the Crown Jewel Event in Riyadh, with many other women. I do not consider myself a fan just yet, but I will admit that it was a fun experience- the glitter pants were an added bonus,” the Instagram post read.

The Saudi General Sports Authority (SGSA), in April, had to apologise after pictures of “indecent” women were shown on big screens at the first-ever televised WWE event in Saudi Arabia, The Greatest Royal Rumble. The incident took place when footage of female wrestlers, Carmella, Bayley and Sasha Banks, who were banned from taking part in the event in Jeddah, were played for the crowd during an advertisement. In a statement, the SGSA said, “The authority has made sure to ban showing of any segment that involves women wrestling or any scenes related to it, and stipulated that to the company (WWE). The authority also disapproved any promotional stuff with pictures or videos showing women in an indecent way.”

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But even though, only men were allowed to participate in the event, women were allowed to watch in the audience for the first time. Previous WWE events in the country only allowed for the male audience and were not televised.

At the Crown Jewel event, earlier this month, Renee Young was allowed to sit at the commentary table but was asked to cover herself but she wore all black and head to cover her full body except her face.