An update has emerged regarding CM Punk & Kevin Owens’ absences from WWE Crown Jewel 2026.
WWE now have just one Raw & SmackDown left before heading off to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for this Saturday’s Crown Jewel 2026 premium live event, with Brooklyn’s Barclays Center hosting a live Monday Night Raw tonight, and a taped episode of SmackDown which will air on Friday, November 6.
Perhaps the biggest match of the double taping will be taking place on SmackDown, when bitter rivals CM Punk and Kevin Owens face off in a No Holds Barred match.
Given that the match is PLE worthy, WWE’s decision to have it take place on SmackDown, rather than Crown Jewel, led to speculation that Punk and Owens refused to travel to Saudi Arabia amid ongoing security concerns in the country.
While there have been reports of talent and staff being unhappy regarding WWE’s decision to host Crown Jewel in Riyadh, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer dismissed rumors that Punk and Owens refused to be on the show.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said:
“There are stories around that some guys refused to go, and nobody refused to go. They think because the Punk match with Owens is on SmackDown that those two guys refused to go, and that is absolutely not true.
“I got the original card. The only change is that the tag team title match was gonna be a six-man with Oba, Penta and Je’Von Evans against Bron Breakker, Austin Theory and Bronson Reed. They decided to make it a tag match.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Oba and Bronson Reed end up interfering in that tag title match to set up the trios match at a point in the future. I’m not saying for sure that’ll happen.
“But that is the only change to the card from the card that was originally made a long time ago. So this was always the deal.”
“Now, if you have read that there’s talent that doesn’t want to go, of course there is, and that’s obviously accurate. I’ve heard from people too, and Sean (Ross) Sapp reported that the people they’ve talked to say they don’t want to go. Of course they don’t.”
Transcript via F4WOnline
A busy week for CM Punk despite missing WWE Crown Jewel
Not only will CM Punk be facing off with Kevin Owens in Brooklyn, but he will also be challenging for the NXT Championship for the very first time in his career.
At the end of last Saturday’s Halloween Havoc event (October 31), Punk challenged Grayson Waller to a title match this Wednesday on WWE NXT – a show that will be going head-to-head with AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts.
Punk will be joined on NXT by top names John Cena and Cody Rhodes, as well as more stars from the main roster – click here for a rundown of every name confirmed to be appearing.
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