WWE Rumors: Several Wrestlers Reportedly Wished They Didn’t Have To Fly To Saudi Arabia For ‘Super ShowDown’

WWE’s most recent pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, Super ShowDown, has just wrapped up, and one of the more intriguing stories regarding the fallout from the event suggests that many members of the company’s roster were not happy to be wrestling in the country and were wishing they had stayed home in the United States.

The above rumors were discussed on Saturday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, as Dave Meltzer explained that most of the performers who were flown out to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for Friday’s show did not want to be there. Per WrestlingNews.co, Meltzer clarified that there were some people who apparently “had a good time” at Super ShowDown, including one who said they were “happy” to be there. However, he added that the majority of the roster “knew they shouldn’t have gone,” with a few of these performers saying something to the effect of “this really sucked.”

In addition, Meltzer revealed that many WWE superstars were surprised by Kevin Owens’ personal decision to back out of Super ShowDown. He explained that this move came as a shock as the other prominent wrestlers who didn’t fly to Saudi Arabia included Daniel Bryan, who backed out of last year’s Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Riyadh, and Aleister Black and Sami Zayn, both of whom were specifically told by WWE that they couldn’t go.

“Kevin Owens [not going to Saudi Arabia] was his call and he’s a high [ranking] guy but people didn’t think that a guy like Kevin Owens could do that and he did.” Meltzer continued, as quoted by WrestlingNews.co.

“Most guys don’t wanna rock the boat. Some guys wanted to go but I heard most didn’t think they should go. It was an awfully long trip. One person told me that if it were up to him he would never go back again but it’s not up to him so it doesn’t matter.”

As further revealed by Meltzer, the competitors in the 51-man battle royal at Super ShowDown were mostly “going through the motions” because of how rushed the booking felt for that particular match.

Despite being promoted as an event that was close to WrestleMania in proportion, WWE’s Super ShowDown was widely panned by fans for a number of reasons. According to the Daily Express, much of the criticism was saved for the show’s main event, where The Undertaker and Goldberg — aged 54 and 52, respectively — had a disappointing match that was filled with mistakes. The aforementioned battle royal was also described by one fan as “garbage,” while others complained about the lack of women’s wrestling — something which was out of WWE’s control due to Saudi Arabia’s strict legal restrictions.