Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez Booked For WWE Crown Jewel In Saudi Arabia

WWE has booked the match that was teased in the closing angle of this week’s WWE SmackDown.

Cain Velasquez will wrestle Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel on October 31st in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia according to a report from the Wrestling Observer. It’s not clear at this point whether this will be Velasquez’s only match with WWE or if it is part of a longer term deal.

The debut of WWE SmackDown on FOX Friday night closed with Lesnar defeating Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship in a matter of seconds. Kingston charged at Lesnar, who immediately picked him up and delivered the F-5 to score the victory and the title.

Following Lesnar’s victory, Rey Mysterio walked down the aisle with Velasquez at his side. This continued the story from RAW on Monday night where Lesnar brutally attacked Mysterio and his son, Dominick.

According to Dave Meltzer, there were some snags in ironing out the deal this week to make the match between Velasquez and Lesnar official for the end of this month, including Tony Khan and AEW reportedly getting involved and reaching out to Velasquez about a deal.

Marc Raimondi of ESPN reported late Friday night following SmackDown that Velasquez had yet to sign a deal with WWE, surprising given the way the show had closed. However, Meltzer’s report would indicate a deal has now been reached and we’ll start to see heavy television advertising for the Crown Jewel match as early as Sunday night at WWE Hell In A Cell.

As expected, both Velasquez and Lesnar will be making a large sum of money for the match at Crown Jewel, which is sponsored by the Saudi General Sports Authority.

Lesnar and Velasquez have a storied past, with the two having fought for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in the main event of UFC 121 in 2010. Velasquez won the match and title via TKO in the first round.