After initially holding non-televised house shows, WWE announced a 10-year strategic partnership with the Ministry of Sport in 2018, which would see the hosting of pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming events in Saudi Arabia.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and WWE's suspension of touring, the Saudi events were suspended after Super ShowDown in February 2020 and returned with Crown Jewel in 2021.

[21][22] WWE announced on November 4, 2019, that it had "expanded" its partnership with the General Entertainment Authority through 2027, under which it would hold two "large-scale events" in Saudi Arabia per-year.

[23] In addition, Riyadh Season, an entertainment festival that launched in October 2019 also organized by the General Entertainment Authority, would begin hosting the annual Crown Jewel event, as well as WWE Experience, an indoor theme park themed around WWE (named after its former syndicated television program), which launched during the 2023 season and officially opened on February 16, 2024.

[24] WWE received criticism for holding the events without female wrestlers, who were unable to perform in Saudi Arabia between 2014 and 2019, due to the country's limitation on women's rights.

[25] This was in response to "a series of social changes" by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman,[27] who repealed the previous legislation completely banning women from public events.

While some were positive, such as Heavy.com, who stated that the match was "put in place to break barriers and further WWE's 'Women’s Evolution' for the proud ladies in attendance and watching all over the world.

This led to the WWE facing calls to cancel the event, with prominent U.S. Democratic and Republican politicians criticizing the company's endeavors in Saudi Arabia.

[48] During Crown Jewel (2018), Daniel Bryan was scheduled to face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, but he refused to work the show due to the Khashoggi murder.

John Cena, who was scheduled to participate in the WWE World Cup at the event and had called it "an honor and a privilege" to compete in Saudi Arabia during the Greatest Royal Rumble, was replaced by Bobby Lashley, as he reportedly refused to work the show in wake of the Khashoggi murder.

[51][52][53] In February 2019, Fightful reported that prior to his leukemia diagnosis, Roman Reigns had informed Vince McMahon that he also would not be taking part in the Crown Jewel PPV due to the controversy surrounding the event.

[54] In 2019 for Super ShowDown, Kevin Owens and Aleister Black told WWE that they would not travel to Saudi Arabia, in addition to Zayn and Bryan once again not competing on the show.

[59] Since Saudi Arabia has strict laws against apostasy which is punishable by death, Montel Vontavious Porter (Hassan Assad), who is a former Muslim converted during his prison term, avoided travel to the country for Crown Jewel in 2022.

[63] After Crown Jewel in 2019, a charter flight back to the United States carrying roughly 200 WWE employees (including performers and other staff) was delayed at King Fahd International Airport for multiple hours.

[64][66] 20 WWE employees, including CEO Vince McMahon and 12 wrestlers, booked their own flights back to the United States,[64][66] while the following night's SmackDown in Buffalo was retooled to primarily feature talent from the women's division and NXT (which did not participate in the event).