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John Oliver calls out WWE for absurd Saudi Arabia stance

MassiveNights

MassiveNights

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,436
Thought this might be worth its own thread.

If you didn't know, WWE signed a deal with Saudi Arabia earlier this year to host events in the country for 10 years, for tens of millions of dollars.

The first event 'The Greatest Royal Rumble' was basically a propaganda piece for the Saudis which looked terrible at the time and in the wake of mainstream headlines about the country over the last couple of weeks, looks even worse now(Deadspin article).

They are scheduled to go back for a second event, 'Crown Jewel', soon, although they have taken the event off their upcoming schedule on their website.

John Oliver eviscerated them on HBO tonight as part of a wider segment on the whole Saudi situation, piling the pressure on. I think this embarrasses John Cena to a non-wrestling audience as much as anyone.



It'll be interesting to see how they handle all this tomorrow night and whether the upcoming event is pushed as heavily as it has been.
 
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RBH

RBH

Official ERA expert on Third Party Football
Member
Nov 2, 2017
33,257
This was great

It's high time that the WWE gets called out for shit like this
 
danm999

danm999

Member
Oct 29, 2017
17,274
Sydney
What's more likely;

The WWE pulls out of the deal, or they integrate Saudi assasination into their storylines?
 

Deleted member 15136

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
521
Vince can go to hell. I thought he had sunk low enough in the past but jeez. I'm glad I haven't supported the modern WWE in quite some time.
 
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NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,666
Yachty said:
I don't think Vince or the fanbase would really care
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Vince is tone deaf to this stuff, and everyone else in the company operates out of his asshole, but the one thing they do bend to is sponsor pressure, and the bigger an issue this becomes the more likely RAW/SD advertisers might raise a stink.
 
Soupman Prime

Soupman Prime

The Fallen
Nov 8, 2017
8,622
Boston, MA
Surprised it has taken this long. I would've thought more people would shit on them for the last event there where despite them supposedly being in a women's revolution they held the event where women can't even really wrestle.

Not sure what Vince will do, if this keeps building then the WWE will look terrible and if it fucks with his money he may scratch the event but then again he's Vince and has done crazy things for money.
 
Cordy

Cordy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,536
Talk to the sponsors, that'll do more damage than fan outrage. The fans can't even make Vince change most booking decisions, Vince don't give a fuck unless it's about sponsors.

Secondly, don't yall remember this about the Q2 financial report?
The key aspect of this change is likely the Saudi Arabia deal. The company noted they have a confidentiality clause in their deal and thus did not discuss the nature of that agreement past that it was a ten-year deal that included an annual show.
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Some dirty shit is at play here.
 

Deleted member 40133

User requested account closure
Banned
Feb 19, 2018
6,095
This...can't be good for John Cena's movie career. He's not big enough outside wrestling for people to just ignore it
 
Indelible

Indelible

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,846
Canada
I'am glad mainstream media is picking this up, usually WWE flies under the radar so it is good they are being called out for their BS.
 
smurfx

smurfx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,637
NinjaScooter said:
Vince is tone deaf to this stuff, and everyone else in the company operates out of his asshole, but the one thing they do bend to is sponsor pressure, and the bigger an issue this becomes the more likely RAW/SD advertisers might raise a stink.
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i honestly don't see sponsors dropping out because they are doing saudi shows. when is the last time advertisers pulled out because a company was working with a country?
 
Djkhaled

Djkhaled

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
557
Yachty said:
I don't think Vince or the fanbase would really care
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I know you think the fanbase are rednecks but the fanbase leans democrat and if you look at /r/squaredcircle people really want this cancelled. So youre kinda talking out of your ass.

But yes, Vince clearly doesn't care, the fanbase does.
 
AcademicSaucer

AcademicSaucer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,753
When he said "Saudi Arabia birthplace of the prophet mohammed" and that Image not avaliable graphic appeared beside him I almost died of laughter
 
thefit

thefit

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,243
I think everyone forgets that Linda Mcmahon works for the Trump administration and I have a suspicion the Saudi deal has more layers than an onion and reeks just as bad. Vince has a direct connection to Trump which means he has a direct connection to corruption. If I where him I would pull out before everyone starts turning over rocks.
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,666
smurfx said:
i honestly don't see sponsors dropping out because they are doing saudi shows. when is the last time advertisers pulled out because a company was working with a country?
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Maybe not, but that is the reason to bring attention to this, not to try and change the mind of that old sack of shit Vince.
 
daboynem

daboynem

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
1,138
Djkhaled said:
I know you think the fanbase are rednecks but the fanbase leans democrat and if you look at /r/squaredcircle people really want this cancelled. So youre kinda talking out of your ass.

But yes, Vince clearly doesn't care, the fanbase does.
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Actually? That's my bad then ill take your word for it but idk if a subreddit and it's posts counts as receipts since most of Reddit leans left
 
GoutPatrol

GoutPatrol

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,716
Cordy said:
Talk to the sponsors, that'll do more damage than fan outrage. The fans can't even make Vince change most booking decisions, Vince don't give a fuck unless it's about sponsors.

Secondly, don't yall remember this about the Q2 financial report?

Some dirty shit is at play here.
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Well duh. Vince, through Linda, gave the go-ahead on the hit.
 
Knight613

Knight613

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,013
San Francisco
I get the feeling Saudi would pay WWE more money than any sponsors.

It's Vince though. He's just like Trump in that he'd rather double down than admit he was wrong.
 
Bufbaf

Bufbaf

Don't F5!
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,759
Hamburg, Germany
John Oliver does what Giant Bomb don't? Wonder if they'll talk about this (and draw their own conclusions in terms of continuously covering fucking WWE).
 
OP
OP
MassiveNights

MassiveNights

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,436
Yachty said:
I don't think Vince or the fanbase would really care
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I don't think Vince cares but I think the corporate structure in the company certainly will.

They are so absurdly image conscious right now and desperate to be seen as social progressive and charity givers.

It's totally contradictory when you take into their support of Trump etc but that is genuinely their way of thinking.

In terms of branding and mainstream recognition, stuff like this wounds them because they are so try hard.

I expect an announcement saying Crown Jewel is taking place elsewhere.
 
TheAvatar

TheAvatar

Member
Nov 4, 2017
697
Wwe put themselves in a massive hole here, they can not show up and save criticism from happening, but if they do they get a huge chance of being sued by them. They really messed themselves up here, they are going to get shit on no matter what they choose and they so rightly deserve it
 
Qikz

Qikz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,581
I mean when the American, UK and a lot of European governments have even closer ties to Saudi Arabia I feel it might be better to call that out first rather than the WWE. What the WWE is doing is super shitty, but they're just following in the footsteps of even bigger fish.
 
OP
OP
MassiveNights

MassiveNights

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,436
DeathyBoy

DeathyBoy

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,430
Under my Hela Hela
MassiveNights said:
I was going to make the thread Trump-centric but WWE rarely gets called out for anything shitty by anyone outside of the wrestling bubble, so I thought it was noteworthy given the audience here too is interested in that side of things.
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The sad truth is that if people like the WWE product at the moment this would never have gained any traction on social media or outside of the wrestling bubble. If people enjoyed the current product, this would be ignored.
 
Benita

Benita

Banned
Aug 27, 2018
862
User warned: Generalizations about a sub community.
It's pretty sad that, as progressive as this forum thankfully is, wrassle-era just dont give a fuck about this.
 
Dirtyshubb

Dirtyshubb

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,555
UK
Benita said:
It's pretty sad that, as progressive as this forum thankfully is, wrassle-era just dont give a fuck about this.
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Oh they do care and will complain about stuff like this...

Then go straight back to watching every week.

Wwe fans are like battered House wives, always thinking that 'he will change' even though nothing ever changes.
 
Cordy

Cordy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,536
Benita said:
It's pretty sad that, as progressive as this forum thankfully is, wrassle-era just dont give a fuck about this.
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Why do you think they don't care? The initial thread about this was made from someone who's from WrassleEra where it's been talked about prior to the first event.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/wwe-gets-paid-millions-to-push-saudi-propaganda.73408/

Most people there crap on WWE every other post. Vince being called out for his bullshit is a W for everyone involved (well except him but Vince is shit anyway so nobody cares) lol.

Even though I don't see it happening, it would be great for this to rise to a level where Vince is forced to step down.
 
Mr. Pointy

Mr. Pointy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,141
Vince won't give a shit until sponsors start pulling out and the WWE has to resort to whatever Impact Wrestling can get as advertisers. And even then, they're probably locked into this Crown Royal event. I'm hoping this gives them a pretty noticeable black eye.

MassiveNights said:
I expect an announcement saying Crown Jewel is taking place elsewhere.
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Qatar.
 
lacer

lacer

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,693
he ain't wrong but the bit coulda prolly done without the "wrasslin sure is gay these days lol" jab
 
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