John Cena and Daniel Bryan Refusing To Appear At WWE Crown Jewel, Show May Be In Jeopardy

John Cena and Daniel Bryan are reportedly refusing to appear at WWE Crown Jewel on Friday, November 2 at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, presumably due to the controversy surrounding the event.

Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports reported this before Raw in a tweet saying that Crown Jewel “could be in trouble” with Cena and Bryan’s refusal to work the show and hearing that Roman Reigns is “injured.”

WWE Crown Jewel could be in trouble.

I was just told Reigns is currently injured and that Cena and Bryan are "refusing" to work the show. Many on the current WWE roster have expressed concerned with going, as well, but obviously not all of them have the power like Cena/Bryan.

— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) October 22, 2018

Cena is one of the eight WWE Superstars scheduled to compete in the one-night World Cup Tournament “to determine the best in the world.” Bryan is also scheduled to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel.

Dave Meltzer addressed the report after Raw on Wrestling Observer Radio and said that while he hasn’t heard anything about Bryan’s status for Crown Jewel, WWE officials told creative team members on Monday afternoon that Cena wouldn’t be taking part in the World Cup Tournament and needed to be replaced.

It’s not known if something had changed since then or if WWE feels that Cena will change his mind if the location is changed, but WWE advertised him to compete in the World Cup Tournament on Raw. The official WWE website is still advertising Cena as a competitor.

Crown Jewel taking place in Saudi Arabia is very much in jeopardy. Tickets are listed online by the Saudi government but they have not gone on sale yet because WWE has not let them know yet if they plan to proceed with the show. According to Meltzer, Crown Jewel is a lot less likely to happen than it was last week.