Gunther apparently wasn’t interested in making the trip to Saudi Arabia for WWE Crown Jewel 2026, and that decision cost WWE a major match. The Ring General was supposed to face Demon Finn Balor at the November 7 event, but the company had to scrap those plans after Gunther decided he wasn’t going.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, multiple WWE sources confirmed that Gunther’s decision was the reason his match with Balor never made it onto the Crown Jewel card. WWE had already filmed segments building toward the showdown, making its sudden disappearance from the lineup even more interesting. And this wasn’t a situation where WWE knew from the beginning that the match wasn’t happening. The decision apparently went back and forth, leaving the company moving forward with the storyline while things were still being worked out behind the scenes.
“One source said that the situation went back-and-forth and thus everything on television was going in that direction.”
Gunther wasn’t the only wrestler who had concerns about the trip, either. There was also talk within WWE that Finn Balor wasn’t thrilled about traveling to Saudi Arabia. However, the belief internally was that Balor would have gone if Gunther had agreed to make the trip.That’s where things get interesting, because WWE hasn’t exactly been thrilled with wrestlers skipping its Saudi Arabian events over the years.
During the early days of WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, certain wrestlers were allowed to turn down appearances. That eventually changed, with talent understanding that refusing to go could hurt their pushes or even result in champions being required to give up their titles before the events. Meltzer explained that several people within WWE believed turning down these trips was no longer an option. Gunther apparently proved that wasn’t necessarily the case.
The latest situation also involved a different set of concerns. According to Meltzer, the conflict affecting Saudi Arabia had raised safety worries among wrestlers, unlike the objections that kept certain talent away from the country in previous years. Despite Gunther’s absence, WWE Crown Jewel 2026 went ahead with its scheduled matches, including Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton.
For now, there’s no word on when WWE plans to revisit Gunther’s rivalry with Demon Finn Balor. The company spent time setting up the match on television, only for Gunther’s decision to keep it from happening at Crown Jewel. Whether that creates any problems for him behind the scenes remains to be seen.
What do you think about Gunther refusing to travel to Saudi Arabia and WWE scrapping his match with Demon Finn Balor? Should WWE wrestlers be allowed to skip these events without facing consequences? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
