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Cape Town - The whispers of John Cena refusing to head over to Saudi Arabia to take part in the controversial WWE Crown Jewel event turned out to carry some weight.
According to the CBS Sports website's Jack Jorgensen, on Monday night on Raw it was revealed that Cena, who did not qualify for the event like the other participants, had been removed from the eight-man World Cup tournament field he was scheduled to compete in.
WWE recently made the decision that it would continue as planned with Crown Jewel, which will air on Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, despite the controversy surrounding the recent suspicious death of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi.
Part of the immediate fallout related to that decision were the rumours from various outlets that Cena had informed the company that he was refusing to make the trip amid the happenings in Saudi Arabia.
Given his growing profile in the Hollywood scene, it came as little shock that the 16-time world champion was backing out. Cena did appear for WWE in Saudi Arabia earlier this year at the Greatest Royal Rumble back in April, defeating Triple H in the opening match.
To get Cena off the show, WWE ran a segment on Monday night during Raw where acting general manager Baron Corbin was so impressed with a beat down of Finn Balor that he allowed Bobby Lashley to take Cena's spot.
In addition to Cena, there have also been reports that Daniel Bryan is
also taking a stand and refusing to head to Saudi Arabia.
.@BaronCorbinWWE was impressed with @fightbobby's performance tonight on #Raw... pic.twitter.com/hwDTCumVHS
— WWE (@WWE) October 30, 2018
