By Ciaran James@TheCiaranJames
Seriously what is the appeal of another WWE produced Saudi Arabia Supershow, featuring wrestlers passed their prime, feuds decades old and matches that have no relevance. Is this really an appealing show?
As I’ve previously reported the deal with WWE and the Saudi hierarchy is part of their 2030 vision, and I for one hope it works, I truly do. Their goals in all honesty are something most counties thrive to achieve, and under the current regime of supposed forward thinker Mohammad Bin Salman the kingdom is determined to amend the way it works and how it is viewed by the west. Saudi Arabia has laid out certain objectives for their 2030 vision and divided them into three main categories, they are building towards 1.) A vibrant society, 2.) A thriving economy, 3.) An ambitious nation, I think you will agree these are all great objectives for a nation to build towards and achieve. WWE falls into the section number one, the vibrant society, where the KSA regime wish to enhance their culture, entertainment urbanism and sports. It’s evident that Saudi Arabia wish to improve sports and entertainment by throwing money at veteran performers, and in some ways trying to recapture past glories.
One could argue that the relationship between WWE and the KSA is for a good cause, and yes, the proposed objectives set by the crown prince do outline what many consider to be positive, achievable goals. Unfortunately, when you scratch away at the 2030 vison and consider WWE’s part, then fans can only look in with complete apathy at the events the company is producing. The controversies preceding the November 2018 tour has rumbled on, and now on WWE programming they have neglected to mention the country and city where the event is taking place, this fact only further highlights how preposterous the KSA events have become. Vince McMahon and company have kept their heads in sand, literally, and continued with the agreement, so much so that the voice over now declares that Supershow Down will be as good as or better than WrestleMania. Now that’s a statement, the one event that Vince risked his financial future and reputation on has now finally, potentially been rivalled by a needless event full of irrelevant matches.
As a wrestling fan only one or two of the matches appeals to me, only because they may raise the bar beyond current main roster matches. The big draw is of course Goldberg vs Undertaker and Triple H vs Randy Orton, the first being twenty years too late and the second being a re-run of a feud from over a decade ago. The rest of the card is made up of irrelevant matches, featuring wrestlers placed into certain positions because a handful of talent won’t make the journey. Balor/Andrade and Kofi/Dolph should appeal to wrestling fans, the Uso’s/Revival should also live up to expectations, but again like previous events will the audience be overly interested in these not so big names? From what I have seen before a lot of the audience seemed to be disinterested or taking walks around the arena, therefore giving the appearance of an event that no one really considers that important. As far as a wrestling event goes it’s easily avoidable, it offers no relevance, only that Brock might turn up and cash in, most probably knowing WWE on Kofi Kingston.
Looking past the wrestling the controversies still exist, it’s one of the reasons I cancelled the network and would even if I had it refuse to watch it. Western society of course has its issues, racism, homophobia, ageism, sexism all still exist among many other issues, but what we are and try to be is progressive. In 2019 an app was introduced called Absher, its main objective is to assist Saudi residents to use government services, a novel idea wouldn’t you say? This app however came under scrutiny from many European governments and human rights organisations after it was revealed male guardians could track and receive notifications on females. I won’t even go into the beheading of the activist Israa Al-Ghomgham here, I think I’ve said enough already. All in all, the choice to watch the event is entirely up the viewer, I dare not question one’s reason to watch or not, this is just my opinion on an agreement made with a controversial regime.
