It was
exclusively reported by Wrestling Inc. last week that WWE had plans for the all-women’s Queen of the Ring tournament to be held this year. It was then
revealed this week that the tournament would begin on the October 8 SmackDown and the October 11 RAW. A separate
report noted that WWE is set to return to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 21.
In an update, word now is that the finals of the Queen of the Ring tournament are set to take place in Saudi Arabia, according to
Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast. There is no word yet on what the name of the next Saudi show will be, but this new report is in line with the original Queen of the Ring report stating that some of the tournament would air on Peacock and the WWE Network.
WWE holding the finals of an all-women’s tournament in the Kingdom is a major deal. Due to local laws, female WWE Superstars were unable to travel with the company to the Kingdom to perform on their earlier events. WWE aired a promotional video that featured female Superstars at Greatest Royal Rumble 2018, and the Saudi General Sports Authority issued an apology for what they called “indecent material” airing at the show.
WWE made some progress in the Kingdom at Crown Jewel 2018 when Renee Young did commentary, then again at Super ShowDown 2019. The first-ever women’s division match was to be held at Super ShowDown 2019, with Alexa Bliss vs. current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya, butt he match was nixed at the last minute by the Saudi government, despite Bliss and Natalya being in the country. WWE finally held a women’s match in Saudi Arabia at Crown Jewel 2019 with Natalya defeating Lacey Evans. Due to local policies, they were both forced to wear t-shirts with full-body suits instead of their normal in-ring gear, but WWE celebrated the history-making moment in a major way.
There’s no word yet on Queen of the Ring participants, or other tournament details, but we will keep you updated.
Stay tuned for more on WWE’s return to the Kingdom and the Queen of the Ring tournament.