The WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble event was held last month in Saudi Arabia, and there’s a ton of controversy surrounding the involvement, or lack thereof, WWE’s female Superstars.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that none of the female Superstars have been paid for missing out on the show due to Saudi Arabia’s culture. It was noted that none of the female stars expect to be paid and they’ll be very surprised if they do.
WWE has been receiving a lot of negative feedback for agreeing to do a show in a country where the culture towards women is completely opposite of the Women’s Revolution WWE has been pushing recently.
WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson took to a recent earnings call to defend the company’s decision:
“I think everyone is familiar with the fact that we have obviously been very vocal about our female performers and re-branding them as Superstars,” Wilson said.
“We feel really good about our continued commitment on that front. There are many countries around the world where we perform and we’re respectful to the cultures there but we certainly hope to be a part of the change moving forward.
“We’re proud and happy with how the event went,” Wilson added. “And we will continue to treat those cultures respectfully while hoping to be a part of some of the change that will be taking place.”
Wrestling Observer Newsletter also notes that there is currently no news on the pay for WWE’s GRR event, because as of a few days ago it still hasn’t come in. Nobody reportedly knew about pay before the event except top WWE Superstars who were there for one-shot appearances.
