The United States of America and the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia have had a close relationship
for the better part of a century.
Despite the noticeable differences in government
– the US being a secular constitutional
republic and Saudi Arabia being a far-right
theocratic monarchy -- the two nations bonded
over a mutual disdain for socialism and a
mutual love of weapons and oil.
Saudi Arabia has the oil, and America needs
the oil.
America has the weapons, and Saudi Arabia
needs the weapons.
America needs oil for transportation, and
Saudi Arabia needs weapons to perform airstrikes
in Yemen that kill civilians.
In 2017, Saudi Arabia bought $110 billion
worth of arms from America with the expectation
that they will buy another $350 billion in
arms from America over the next ten years.
For reasons like this – as well as their
ongoing human rights abuses – The Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia has a terrible reputation
the world over.
Not its people but its rulers: The Saudi Royal
Family.
Recently, the royals had an idea.
“What if,” they thought “we could improve
our international reputation with some superficial,
insignificant reforms and publicly ally ourselves
with a powerful American company?
But what company could we find that has absolutely
no shame?”
World Wrestling Entertainment is existed in
one form or another since 1952.
Vince McMahon, seen here with his tongue in
the mouth of one of his wrestlers, has been
chairman since 1980.
He took a family business and made it an international
sensation.
Through a series of broken promises and steroid
scandals, McMahon amassed an empire that is
now the leading brand in professional wrestling
across the world.
Although publicly traded, WWE remains a “family
business” in key way: members of his family,
including his children and son-in-law, help
run WWE to this day.
The House of Saud is the ruling family in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
More commonly called the Saudi Royal Family,
the head of the House of Saud is King of Saudi
Arabia.
The King serves both head of state and monarch
of the Kingdom.
The King holds almost absolute political power,
but the King sometimes appoints someone else
to be the public face of the kingdom or to
do the legwork because I guess being a king
with no real accountability gets hard sometimes.
Right now, that man is Crown Prince Muhammad
bin Salman.
Human rights under the Saudi Royal Family
are considered among the worst in the world
by almost any metric.
Saudi Arabia performs public executions by
beheading and can be performed for any number
of offenses, many of which would not be considered
capital crimes in most of the world.
A Saudi citizen can be publicly executed for
repeated drug use, heresy or apostasy, adultery,
witchcraft and more.
I guess they got a real witch problem over
there.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia carried out
a mass execution of thirty-seven prisoners,
mostly due to confessions that were made under
torture.
Women are given status similar to that of
children in Saudi Arabia and comprise only
5% of the workforce, the smallest in the world.
The public practice of any religion besides
Islam is strictly prohibited.
The press is actively censored by the Saudi
government.
Peaceful protest can get you locked up for
15 years.
Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by
either imprisonment or even execution.
Doctors are banned from giving hormone replacement
to transgender people and honestly, the list
just goes on and on.
Bear in mind that none of this is a condemnation
of the Saudi people.
They're the victims, not the oppressors, and
a lot of them are trying to fight back.
The problem is the government.
Not the people.
The deal between WWE and the Saudi Royal Family
is for WWE to do huge shows in Saudi Arabia
and help them with propaganda for the family
while they're there.
Unlike the vast majority of WWE shows, their
events in Saudi Arabia are funded by the government,
controlled by the Saudi Royal Family.
Normally when WWE wants to tour somewhere,
they pay some fees, do some paperwork, make
a deal with the arena about profits and who
gets what, and then all of the sudden, Monday
Night Raw is live from Tampa, Florida or London,
England or wherever WWE wants to hock its
merchandise.
In this case, Saudi Arabia handles everything.
WWE just needs to show up and rassle.
Now you might be thinking “So what about
Saudi Arabia?
Why is it strange that WWE is doing shows
in Saudi Arabia?
They do shows in other countries with less
than stellar reputations all the time, and
America is an imperialist nightmare.”
And all that's true.
In fact, this isn't even the first time WWE
has toured Saudi Arabia.
But WWE's events everywhere else are not paid
for exclusively by the government or paid
to be propaganda.
When WWE tours the UK, their events are not
paid for by the Queen, and WWE is under no
obligation to endorse the UK government or
make a stand on Brexit.
They're just there to put on a wrestling show.
Frankly, WWE usually has their heels mock
the city or country they're in for some cheap
heat.
The precise terms of the deal are unknown
only to those who have signed it and those
who have access to it, but since WWE is a
publicly traded company, they make quarterly
reports on their earnings.
Some of the details have been sussed out while
other details remain under lock and key.
One thing we do know for sure is that WWE's
money from Saudi Arabia is stacked higher
than that of Wrestlemania.
The gate alone for Wrestlemania this year
was around $16 million, but that's chump change
compared to the Saudi Arabia deal.
There have been conflicting reports on just
how lucrative this deal is for WWE, but by
the most trusted accounts, this will make
the company at least $45 million per year
on the deal.
That may be an estimate because WWE's earnings
in Saudi Arabia are listed as “Other”
in their financial reports.
Let's say this conservative estimate is correct
and that WWE stands to make 45 million per
year.
The deal lasts for ten years.
WWE stands to make, at least, $450 million
dollars over the course of their deal with
the Saudi Royal Family.
That's nearly half a billion dollars into
the WWE coffers.
Maybe with that much cheddar, they can start
giving their wrestlers health insurance.
(They won't.)
This is a ridiculous amount of money for two
shows per year, especially considering how
little is actually grossed for Saudi Arabia.
Media outlets have reported that their first
show only made the Saudis $250,000, and the
second made a similar amount.
The Saudi Royal Family is losing a tremendous
amount of money on this contract.
There is absolutely no way for them to earn
a profit from it.
For WWE, it's a sweetheart deal.
For the Saudi Royal Family, it seems like
a bad investment...except they aren't trying
to make money off WWE directly.
They have other plans in mind.
When WWE tours in Chicago, their presence
helps the city's economy, and of course WWE
makes a tidy sum from the tickets and any
merch they sell.
That's the arrangement.
They aren't summoned there on the behest of
the Mayor of Chicago and paid $45 million
just to show up.
There would be no return on that investment.
So, why is this happening in Saudi Arabia?
What do the Saudi Royals want from their association
with WWE?
Saudi Arabia practically gave their tickets
away.
They had no intention of making money from
this.
Their objective was not to make money from
their alliance with WWE.
The deal to have WWE put on shows for them
and their people is part of a “charm offensive”
to the west.
To understand this, you gotta understand the
Saudi Royal Family.
In April of 2016, Crown Prince Mohammad bin
Salman unveiled his plan for the future: Vision
2030.
While the plan was lauded as a modern solution
to the monarchy’s heavy reliance on oil,
it simply does not involve significant social
reform.
Instead, it has provided the Saudi Royal Family
with a strategic way to distract international
attention away from massive human rights abuses
that the country commits to this day.
It's almost entirely a financial plan.
Not a social progress plan.
Among his goals are “reforms” for the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, such as allowing
women to drive.
Saudi Arabia was the last nation on Earth
that criminalized women driving.
When they decriminalized it, the international
media ate it up.
What a reformer!
Women drivers!
How progressive.
What's next?
Freedom of religion?
No, literally no chance of that.
Well, maybe decriminalizing homosexuality.
No, that's still on the books as punishable
by prison or execution.
But still.
Women can now put their hands on a steering
wheel without going to prison.
Much progress.
So equality.
But that didn't matter to the media.
The Crown Prince got what he wanted: positive
press for his country and the Saudi Royal
Family.
Reputation means a lot.
PR means a lot.
For example, when the Saudi royals recently
had a journalist murdered, it caused an international
stir resulting in several nations in the European
Union to suspend their weapon sales to the
kingdom.
The Saudi Royal Family wants the Kingdom to
have more influence in world politics, and
you can either earn a better reputation or
you can buy one.
The closest thing to a real reform is the
Crown Prince saying he will stamp out corruption
in the government, but guess what, buttercup?
You're the government!
And you and your family do ALL the crimes!
What the Saudi Royal Family means when they
say they will end corruption is that they
will end corruption outside their family.
They want all the corruption for themselves.
This parallels Donald Trump's claim of “draining
the swamp” and then presiding over an administration
that itself is corrupt.
How many scandals have their been?
Are they daily now?
The Crown Prince gives up nothing, gains everything
and everyone calls him a selfless and earnest
reformer because it makes for an appealing
narrative in mass media.
The reforms are not “bad” – women being
able to drive is good – but the reforms
won't go much further than that.
Saudi Arabia is an ultraconservative theocracy,
and that won't change outside of a revolution.
Bottom of the barrel reforms are not indicative
of significant reforms any time soon, if ever,
and so far, that has been confirmed.
Executions have gone up since the Crown Prince's
Vision 2030 plan.
The interventionist war in Yemen has intensified
under the Crown Prince.
The war in Yemen is so bloody and such a disaster
that even longtime ally the United States
tried to pull support for it in Congress until
the bill in was vetoed by the President.
Donald Trump loves the Saudi Royal Family.
They are peas in a pod.
Saudi Arabia has become more dangerous to
its people and to its neighbors.
The “reforms” related to entertainment
are superficial.
It's a veneer, a thin veil and nothing more.
So, where does WWE come in?
World Wrestling Entertainment is the Saudi
Royal Family's proof to the world that they
are a “modern” kingdom.
In addition to this alliance looking good
for the Saudis, WWE is paid to perform propaganda
for the Saudi Royal Family during their WWE
Network specials in Saudi Arabia.
That's what the Saudi Royal Family paid for.
They didn't pay for wrestling.
They paid for propaganda.
WWE understands reclaiming your legacy after
a history of misdeeds and scandal.
In recent years, WWE has had their own charm
offensive: charity work.
That hasn't changed the fact that they mistreat
their wrestlers, don't provide healthcare,
prop up murderous regimes and support a President
who literally puts children in cages, but
hey.
You know what?
Shut up.
Ignore all that, and Be a Star.
Be a Star, everyone.
WWE has an anti-bullying campaign in spite
of the fact that it infamously has created
an atmosphere of bullying among its talent.
Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, seen
here falling into a pool of mud, has admitted
publicly that WWE's charities are there for
show, to help the image of the company, and
because it's just good business.
Frankly, the McMahons and the Saudi Royal
Family are a match made in Heaven.
When it is said that WWE performs propaganda
for the Saudi Royal Family, this does not
mean that WWE simply has wrestling shows in
Saudi Arabia.
When detractors of this deal say it's propaganda,
they mean it's propaganda.
During the first show under this deal called
Greatest Royal Rumble, announcers, commentators
and wrestlers touted Saudi Arabia as a “progressive”
country thanks to the Crown Prince.
Corey Graves talked up the Prince's Vision
2030 plan and said that Saudi Arabia is committed
to “diversity.”
That is...a lie?
Yeah, it's a lie.
It is literally illegal to be anything but
a Muslim in Saudi Arabia.
It is literally illegal to anything but a
heterosexual in Saudi Arabia.
Multiple times during the show, Michael Cole,
the voice of WWE, gave shout-outs to the Saudi
Royal Family in attendance.
You know, the group that signs off on all
the executions and extrajudicial killings?
The Saudi Royal Family can be seen in almost
every shot because they occupy the entire
front rows.
They seem barely interested in the show and
mostly talk amongst themselves and walk around,
obstructing the view of the people behind.
Just milling around, being dicks.
Just being...mean, salty dicks?
There was also an entire section of the show
dedicated to WWE Hall of Famers like Jerry
“The King” Lawler and Booker T thanking
the Saudi Royal Family and completely ignoring
everything they stand for.
In addition, there was a video package touting
Vision 2030 and the amazing reform of women
not being imprisoned anymore for driving a
car.
Quite literally the last country on planet
Earth that permitted women to drive cars,
and they want a cookie for it.
Right before the Rumble portion of the evening,
Michael Cole reiterated that Jeddha, the city
where the event took place, is so “progressive.”
[sighs] Listen, I'm not applying the word
“progressive” under American standards
because America is complicit in a lot of this.
I'm not applying European standards or “western”
standards, especially since that term has
some racist implications.
I'm not applying the word “progressive”
here in any way except to say that the Saudi
Royal Family has made Saudi Arabia one of
the most ultraconservative nations on Earth
by anything resembling an objective criteria
and calling it “progressive” in any way,
shape or form is fully enriched, weapons grade
bullshit.
It is conservative not only by world standards
but also by regional standards.
Women are required by law to limit their interaction
with men unless they are family.
There are separate entrances for women and
men in buildings, offices, banks and universities.
Unlawful “mixing” leads to criminal charges
for men and women but women will always have
to face the harsher punishment.
Women can't go anywhere without their male
guardian's permission or conduct business
without a man present.
Speaking out about this or about anything
else that the Saudi Royal Family does is also
illegal and punishable by death.
As I am writing this, Saudi Arabia has just
sentenced three moderate scholars to be executed
for the crime of campaigning for a better
country.
There is no “progressive” city in Saudi
Arabia while the Royal Family is in power,
and claiming that there is because the Saudi
Royal Family paid you to say it participating
in propaganda.
During the Greatest Royal Rumble, there were
no matches for women.
This is prohibited in the country.
Even though WWE has made strides in their
women's division over the past several years,
they were barred from the event.
Women fans of WWE were permitted to attend
the show but only with man as a chaperone.
Sami Zayn, who is of Syrian descent, was also
barred from attending the show.
The Saudi Royal Family doesn't like Syria,
and even though Zayn is actually Canadian
and just has Syrian roots, that's still too
Syrian for the Royal Family.
During the show, WWE played an advertisement
featuring some of their women wrestlers, and
the Saudi Royal Family was furious.
According to those who were there, the audience
– the citizens – were apparently fine
with this, but again, the government is not
the citizenry.
The Saudi Arabia General Sports Authority
made a statement later on apologizing for
showing “indecent” women in their wrestling
gear and basically threw WWE under the bus.
And what did WWE do after being mistreated
like that?
They said “Thank you, sir.
May I have another?!”
Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist and critic of
Saudi Arabia, entered the Saudi Arabian consulate
in Istanbul to obtain documents related to
his marriage.
He never walked out.
Over time, it was revealed that Khashoggi
had been assassinated, almost certainly under
orders by the Saudi government.
Saudi Arabia kept changing its story.
First they denied he had been killed, then
he had been killed in a fist fight, then by
accident during interrogation, until finally
the Saudi Arabian attorney general said it
was a premeditated murder but absolved the
Royal Family of any guilt.
Of course.
Shortly thereafter, a CIA investigation concluded
that Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered
the assassination.
AUDIO 9
This put WWE in a public relations nightmare.
Should they go ahead with Crown Jewel, their
next show in Saudi Arabia?
Should they cancel and deal with the fallout
of their contract?
WWE claimed it would “investigate” the
issue, but that's corporate speak for “we're
not going to do anything.”
It's the same thing they said when one of
their doctors recently admitted, under oath,
that he had a sexual relationship with one
of the wrestlers under his care.
It's the same thing they said when reports
of Randy Orton's sexual misconduct surfaced.
They didn't investigate but two things: jack
and shit, because if they did investigate
and came up with something, they wouldn't
have plausible deniability anymore.
They didn't want to find anything because
it would be easier and better for them not
to.
Generally speaking, WWE fans were not happy
with the wrestling company's foray into Saudi
Arabia and their blatant propaganda for the
regime, but once word about the murder of
the journalist began to spread, fans at live
events began to audibly boo every reference
to Crown Jewel.
Even the Undertaker – a fan favorite for
decades – was on the receiving end of this
reaction when he promoted his match in Saudi
Arabia.
American politicians, both Democrats and Republicans,
condemned Saudi Arabia and some were even
concerned about WWE doing the show.
Some speculated that the State Department
might put pressure on WWE not to go.
But with Trump in the Oval Office, it never
seemed likely that WWE would be asked to stay
home.
WWE and Trump go back a long time.
Trump hosted two Wrestlemania events in Trump
Plaza.
Trump is in the WWE Hall of Fame, the WWE
did fundraising for the Trump 2016 campaign.
Even Linda McMahon, seen here next to Karate
Eric Bischoff, was head of the Trump administration's
Small Business Bureau for about two years.
There is no way Trump's State Department [photo]
would tell the McMahon family not to make
their blood money.
In the end, WWE decided not only to do the
show but to continue to do their twice yearly
shows for the Saudi Royal Family.
Nobody has a copy of the contract between
WWE and Saudi Arabia except for WWE and Saudi
Arabia.
That means we don't know for sure what the
penalty for backing out of a show or a deal
will cost WWE.
But probably a lot.
They may even have to go to court over it
or settle out of court for a lot of money.
Nobody knows exactly how it would shake out.
But here's the thing.
I don't...care?
According to Forbes, Vince McMahon is worth
three billion dollars.
If he lost two thirds of his worth overnight,
he would still be a billionaire.
I don't have any sympathy for a billionaire
who might lose millions of dollars on a deal
or go to court and lose millions more.
Vince McMahon will never be broke.
He's seventy three years old, set for the
rest of his life and he's probably happy with
all of his success.
There is no other explanation for why he walks
that way.
UFC, following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,
severed its ties with the Saudi Arabia.
Endeavor, the parent company of UFC, returned
a $400 million investment to the Saudis.
They gave it up.
All of it.
I also don't have any sympathy for Vince McMahon
here because he may not have known that the
Saudi Royal Family was going to dismember
and murder someone and have it be international
news, but he definitely knew who they were
before he signed the deal.
He knew what they were about, and he signed
on anyway.
The killing of Jamal Khashoggi is nowhere
near the first death at the hands of the Saudi
Royals.
It's just among the most high profile in recent
years.
Numerous American businesses expressed concern
or made a show of outrage over the Saudi Royal
Family's involvement in the murder of Khashoggi,
but nearly all of them are still doing business
with the Saudi government, including WWE.
Only two men refused to work the Crown Jewel
show: John Cena and Daniel Bryan because they
are very good boys, and we're all better off
for having them in our lives.
It's understandable why others were afraid
of requesting the night off, though.
WWE is infamously vindictive and most wrestlers
would probably end up losing their spot for
staging a protest.
Cena and Bryan are basically untouchable at
this point and so well-respected that punishing
them would cause more problems than solve.
Chief Operations Officer Paul “Triple H”
Levesque, seen here having sex with a dead
body, followed WWE's talking points precisely.
He said that the company's presence will make
Saudi Arabia a better country, but he is too
smart to really believe that.
AUDIO 11
The Saudi Royal Family is using WWE to increase
their influence on the world stage.
WWE is not using the Saudis to change Saudi
Arabia.
They just want their blood money, and it's
extremely naive to think otherwise.
WWE can't make Saudi Arabia a progressive
or even moderate country because Saudi Arabia
is a hundred times more powerful than WWE.
Also, WWE is not financially incentivized
to do this either because if the Saudi Royal
Family gives up its power, it won't be able
to make all the decisions like giving an American
wrestling company untold millions to put on
glorified house shows.
Speaking of which, Crown Jewel happened.
They brought back Hulk Hogan.
Look at him.
All racist and made of leather.
They had a World Cup that only featured wrestlers
from America, so whatever.
Shane McMahon, seen here getting his penis
electrocuted by a monster, was given the World
Cup and declared the Best Wrestler in the
World.
Their next Saudi Arabia show, Super Showdown,
is being billed as a show that “will be
as good or exceed Wrestlemania.”
That's definitely something the Saudis insisted
WWE say.
WWE has never before thrown Wrestlemania under
the bus or treated Wrestlemania as anything
but the biggest show of the year.
The Saudi Royal Family has so much power over
WWE right now.
It's embarrassing.
WWE wants to keep the cash rolling, and they
will do and say whatever it takes to make
that happen.
This is a ten year deal between WWE and the
Saudi Royal Family.
We're only about a year in.
We have a long way to go before it's over.
