Saudi Arabia GSA Issues Apology For WWE Ad Showing Women Wrestlers At Greatest Royal Rumble
The WWE Greatest Royal Rumble took place yesterday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at the King Abdullah International Stadium. Despite the incredible card WWE brought to the country there was still controversy that followed with no women wrestlers being allowed on the show.
That rule was apparently also in place for any promotional material that WWE ran during the event as the Saudi Arabia General Sports Authority tweeted out an apology about WWE showing women wrestlers during the broadcast.
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Reddit user "compromise" provided a translation of the apology:
"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."
The WWE "Best of Both Worlds" ad for their upcoming dual-branded PPVs was shown to the live crowd.
Before the event, Triple H was interviewed by The Independent and was asked about women not competing at the event.
"I understand that people are questioning it, but you have to understand that every culture is different and just because you don't agree with a certain aspect of it, it doesn't mean it's not a relevant culture," Triple H said. "You can't dictate to a country or a religion about how they handle things but, having said that, WWE is at the forefront of a women's evolution in the world and what you can't do is affect change anywhere by staying away from it."
He continued although the women's division wasn't represented at Friday's show, WWE hopes to change that down the road.
"While, right now, women are not competing in the event, we have had discussions about that and we believe and hope that, in the next few years they will be," Triple H responded. "That is a significant cultural shift in Saudi Arabia. The country is in the middle of a shift in how it is dealing with that ? the position is changing, and rights are changing, as are the way women are handled and treated in society. We think that's a great thing and we're excited to be at the forefront of that change."