Hacksaw Jim Duggan Talks John Cena Pulling Out Of Crown Jewel In Saudi Arabia, ESPN Host Rips WWE
As seen above, WWE Hall of Famer "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan recently spoke with TMZ Sports and defended WWE's decision to keep the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.
"I think they should stick to it. You can't control what goes on in other parts of the world and they had it scheduled. You just can't hold the rest of the world to our values," Duggan said. "What happens over there, happens over there. I think it was Harry Truman that said, 'He's a SOB but he's our SOB.' That's kind of the way I look at Saudi Arabia, personally. McMahon, I think he looks at it, of course as a huge business opportunity, and that's why he's going to go over there but I just don't think you can shut down a whole operation just over a horrible incident, obviously a tragedy and everything you can say, but compared to what else goes on in the rest of the world over there, in Libya, and Syria, and Iran. It's relatively minor, as horrible as it is to say. So yeah, if you're going to start picking & choosing things, you won't be able to go anywhere. There's something everywhere that's negative."
Duggan also commented on reports of John Cena refusing to work the show and the recent comments made by WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, who indicated he will be making the trip to the Kingdom.
"John Cena, of course he's in a different position than 90% of the guys on the roster," Duggan said. "But of course he has his own opinion and he's in a position where he can state that opinion. He's a company guy, too, so it says an awful lot for the guy to stand up and do his own beliefs. Hogan, myself and that generation – rain, sleet or snow or natural disaster, we'll make the show. So I can see Hogan being there."
On a related note, Dan Le Batard of ESPN Radio blasted WWE for keeping Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia during "The Dan Le Batard Show" on Thursday.
"Did you see WWE is still going to Saudi Arabia? What a bad decision that is. But it's the sewer and the sewer is going to behave like the sewer," Dan said. "There's a lot of money in Saudi Arabia, so much money, so wrestling is going back to Saudi Arabia as we wonder whether Saudi kills journalists with bone saws. It's not a hard statement to make. You're not usually this overt about, 'We'll take your money even though you're being investigated for killing a journalist with a bone saw. ... Yeah, we'll take your money, your blood money. No matter what."