WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble aired live last night from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Female Superstars were not allowed to participate in the show. During the broadcast, WWE aired promotional material that featured female wrestlers, which was also against the rules. Saudi Arabia General Sports Authority tweeted out an apology in regards WWE showing female Superstars during WWE Greatest Royal Rumble last night.
#??????_??????_??????? pic.twitter.com/LsCGEwbu3K
— ?????? ?????? ??????? (@gsaksa) April 28, 2018
The following is a rough translation of the apology was provided by Reddit user “compromise”:
The General Sport Authority would like to apologize to the viewers and attendees of last night’s WWE event that took place in Jeddah, over the indecent scene involving women that appeared as an ad before a segment. It would like to confirm it’s total disapproval of this, in the shadow of its commitment to eliminate anything that goes against the communities values.
The authority has made sure to ban showing of any segment that involves women wrestling or any scenes related to it, and stipulated that to the company (WWE). The authority also disapproved any promotional stuff with pictures or videos showing women in an indecent way, and emphasized on commitment of this rule. And it’s a commitment that the authority would still commit to forever in all of it’s events and programs.
WWE aired an advertisement featuring Sasha Banks, Carmella, Naomi, Nia Jax, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Bayley and male Superstars singing along to a song to promote dual-branded PPVs moving forward. WWE Backlash on May 6th will feature Superstars from both RAW and SmackDown. This advertisement was shown in King Abdullah Sports Stadium last night during the show.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet posted a video of fans in the stadium reacting to the female Superstars:
Found a longer version and it definitely sounds like the crowd got pretty excited to see Sasha, Bayley and Carmella in their ring gear. pic.twitter.com/ptsZdAngfR
— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) April 28, 2018
Several of WWE’s female Superstars tweeted out that they were watching Greatest Royal Rumble last night:
#WWEGRR pic.twitter.com/TFYE0ptgsD
— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) April 27, 2018
— Alexa Bliss (@AlexaBliss_WWE) April 27, 2018
Working and watching ? pic.twitter.com/xrGUY1tvze
— Rebecca Quin (@BeckyLynchWWE) April 27, 2018
Best of luck to all the men in @WWE who are entering the #WWEGGR ?? Wooo!
— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) April 27, 2018
.@WWE #WWEGRR what is life right now!!!! This is awesome!!!!
— Ember Moon (@WWEEmberMoon) April 27, 2018