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So, I thought about doing the radio show recently, still might, but instead figured I'd just shoot the s**t here and see what happens. This social guild could stand to get more social, so ******** it. Why not?

I'm thinking of doing a weekly editorial where I discuss something going on either in our community or the wrestling world at large. Maybe it's reviewing Raw & SD, maybe it's an interview, maybe I cover something really cool happening in the feds. Honestly, I'm not so much concerned about what's discussed here more so than I am seeing the pot get stirred. So, let's get this stew a-brewin' and kick off with this inaugural issue.

WWE needs to move Crown Jewel out of Saudi Arabia.

I would be surprised if this was a minority opinion, but nothing good can come from this event and anyone paying attention should know that by now.

For those unaware (and I don't blame you, there's plenty of people I know in my daily life not keeping up with world events) the Saudi crown prince and his government are currently under investigation for the murder of a political critic at their embassy in Turkey over a week ago.

There's a lot to go over regarding the case if you aren't caught up, but the TL;DR is that he went into the embassy and never came back out, according to video footage and his fiancee's account as she waited outside when he entered the consulate.

The Saudi government claims he exited after an hour or so, but CCTV footage from around the embassy don't corroborate this and the Saudi government has failed to provide any evidence to confirm their claims that he left their custody safely.

Because I'm in no way a journalist, I'm linking a more thorough report here for those more interested.

But human rights allegations aside.

This Crown Jewel event has been a mess from a booking standpoint, as well. Because the crown prince, who's funding this event and hasn't seen a WWE show since JBL was world champ likes Attitude Era superstars, we've seen people pushed into the spotlight who haven't performed in decades, people brought back past their prime, people on the main roster held down to give spots to bygone era sensations for an event that WWE is tailoring to one person and their millions of dollars.

They've even bought off The Heartbreak Kid, after eight years of honored retirement, and it isn't for a dream match against AJ Styles or Daniel Bryan, he's doing it to be in a tag team match against a pair he's tangled with decades ago. Not a single person in this four-way is below 45, and aside from Michaels, all of them have shown their age in recent weeks, and HBK is the exception simply because he hasn't overexposed himself yet (hairlines aside).

Rey Mysterio is returning this week to fight for a spot on the Crown Jewel event against Shinsuke Nakamura. You remember him? The US Champion, has been for months? Was once the headlining performer in venues all across the world? Well, guess which one the Saudi crown prince knows about?

If you think Nakamura is getting any respect this week, you're sadly mistaken. I'm sure Rey will sell his a** off out of personal admiration for Shinsuke, but don't delude yourself into thinking WWE is putting The Artist over The Underdog for this event.

WWE didn't even let women wrestle the last time they were in Saudi Arabia, but yet continue to harp on how progressive their 'Women's (R)evolution' is. To butcher paraphrase a quote, "These are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others."

WWE is shamelessly hurting their own product for the sake of money. Don't tell me WWE cares about women's wrestling everywhere but Saudi Arabia. Don't tell me HBK came back for the love of the game and not the biggest paycheck he's probably ever made. Don't tell me guys like Shinsuke deserve to be ignored for weeks because WWE has to appease a crown prince. And don't tell me something awful didn't happen to that poor journalist in that embassy when almost all evidence points to the contrary.

It wouldn't be easy, and WWE wouldn't come out clean, but moving this event to another location would be 'best for business', lest they put on a show that panders to a government that is under heavy scrutiny for blatant human rights violations (and I'm not even touching the situation in Yemen). It's better to have integrity and have to pay out some money than selling out your beliefs for profit.

At least, that's my two cents.

What're yours? Leave a comment below and let me know. Like it, hate it, let's get some conversations going. Come at me bros (and bro-ettes, I'm not sexist) and let's have some dialogue. Thanks for reading! 🤓

Oh, no doubt that they have promoted women's wrestling better and more fiercely than in the past. But it irks me that they could literally go just about anywhere and have a show but want to take their money because they have a whole lot of it. But it's one thing to run a business, it's another to show up there and praise the government while ignoring their confirmed and alleged human rights violations while still calling them 'progressive' and having Cena personally thank the royal family for the paycheck.

Honestly, the booking aspects don't even bother me so much, I'm used to seeing WWE botch their talent. It's a shame they've roped HBK into it, but he could've said no, so it's on him how this reflects on his legacy. But at the end of the day, there's right and wrong, and you need to be able to say no to taking money from the wrong people at the expense of your dignity, let alone the image you set for yourself.

Sure, they might leave Nakamura at home. But I bet they don't leave all their prompts and cues about how 'honored' they are to be hosted by these people, or how 'groundbreaking' and 'forward-thinking' their regime is. Especially now, the Saudis are going to make sure WWE puts them over harder than Roman. This industry shouldn't be used as a propaganda tool for a foreign power, especially one as controversial as this is becoming now.

I agree, WWE has an uphill battle getting out of that deal, but surely there's a clause in their contract somewhere about ethics and morals for such an event (and now it's being reported the Saudis are preparing a statement admitting to the murder as a result of torture interrogation gone wrong but that conveniently it wasn't authorized, don't see that helping their case any at this point though). WWE needs to book this somewhere else and be willing to take the losses now rather than suffer the prolonged backlash of continuing to hype this event and praise the Saudis for hosting them.

Also, the stock thing might be more due to the FED raising interest rates to thwart inflation. The market as a whole has been adjusting to that and it's been pretty overdue. I bet some of their losses are over the controversy, though.