Replacement for John Cena at WWE Crown Jewel Possibly Revealed

We're only five days away from WWE Crown Jewel and the drama surrounding the big event in Saudi [...]

By Ryan Droste

We're only five days away from WWE Crown Jewel and the drama surrounding the big event in Saudi Arabia doesn't appear to be dying down anytime soon.

As we have reported in the past, John Cena has apparently pulled out of working the show due to the situation of the Saudi government allegedly being involved in a plot to murder Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Turkey. Daniel Bryan has also reportedly told the WWE that he is refusing to travel to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel.

In regards to Cena, he was scheduled to take part in the eight man WWE World Cup tournament at the show. WWE is expected to announce a replacement for Cena during RAW on Monday night with some type of storyline reason being created for Cena being replaced for the event.

According to WrestleVotes on Twitter, Bobby Lashley will end up taking Cena's spot in the World Cup at Crown Jewel.

According to a report at PWInsider, Crown Jewel has officially sold out. The event is being set-up for about 25,000 fans to attend. We reported yesterday that tickets had finally recently gone on sale after WWE made the decision to continue on with the event. The tickets were priced incredibly cheap by WWE standards, so it was expected that the show would be ensured a sell out quite easily. Given the fact that the Saudi government is paying WWE several million dollars for this show and others over the next 10 years, the live gate the company makes off of ticket sales isn't as critical when it comes to the bottom line.

The announcement of Crown Jewel's ticket sell out was officially made by Saudi Arabia's Minister of Sports, Turki Al-Sheikh. PWInsider reports that WWE staff have arrived in Saudi Arabia as of last Thursday and are in the process of constructing the stage at King Saud University Stadium.

WWE is still advertising Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles at the event despite reports of Bryan's refusal to work the show. It's expected a change to that match will be announced during this week's edition of SmackDown Live on Tuesday night.

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