On June 7, 2019, WWE will return to Saudi Arabia for their third big event in “The Kingdom” over the last two years. Super ShowDown has been built up pretty well and has a rather impressive card which includes a huge 50-man over-the-top battle royal. Unfortunately, there will be three of WWE’s top superstars who will not be on the show as they have purposely declined to travel to Saudi Arabia for it.
Late on Tuesday evening, Fightful reported that Kevin Owens has informed WWE he did not want to go to Saudi Arabia to work Super ShowDown . There has been no specific reason given as to why Owens doesn’t want to go, but he simply will not be there or on the card in any fashion.
Owens had been feuding with WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and lost a title match to him at Sunday’s Money In The Bank . On SmackDown Live , a returning Dolph Ziggler attacked Kingston and started a new feud which will have the two in a match at Super Show Down for the WWE Championship.
Another superstar who won’t be making the trip to Saudi Arabia is Daniel Bryan who is one-half of the SmackDown Tag Team Champions with Rowan. This is not overly surprising, though, as Bryan chose not to go with WWE for Crown Jewel back in November either.
As reported by Wrestling Inc. , Bryan did work The Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia last April, but he may not end up ever returning again. There has been no specific reason given as to why Bryan won’t be going, but WWE is not forcing anyone to go to Saudi Arabia if they don’t choose to travel with them.
Last year, WWE did release a statement regarding the events and how they support any superstars choosing not to take part.
“WWE is committed to embracing individuals from all backgrounds while respecting local customs and cultural differences around the world.”
The third superstar who will not be at Super SmackDown is Sami Zayn who has not attended any of the events in Saudi Arabia. Zayn has a vast Syrian ancestry and Saudi Arabia cut ties with Syria back in 2012 which has led to a strained relationship between the two countries.
There is some speculation that this is the reason that Kevin Owens is not going to next month’s event as well. Owens and Zayn are very good friends in real life outside of the WWE ring and one may merely be supporting the other.
