Thanks to an insanely lucrative deal for the WWE, fans have been treated (punished) to huge mega shows from Saudi Arabia. The company, of course, downplays all of the political quagmires and pushes huge and inspirational events like the ladies getting to wrestle in the Saudi kingdom.Past all the pomp and circumstance of “The Kingdom Of Jeddah,” the WWE still has to put on events worth watching with great matches. They’ve succeeded to some extent, but according to CageMatch.net, they’ve also fallen flat on their face a bunch of times too.
10 Roman Reigns Vs. Goldberg - Elimination Chamber 2022 3.6
It should be no shock that Goldberg is on this list in several spots. His most recent (and in theory final) battle was challenging Roman Reigns at the 2022 Elimination Chamber. The guy was certainly a monster two decades ago, but in the current year he’s showing every bit his age. He barely can hold up his end of the bargain in any match, let alone a huge match with The Tribal Chief who smashed him.
9 Ronda Rousey & Naomi Vs. Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville - Elimination Chamber 2022 3.72
With one arm tied behind her back, Ronda Rousey was still able to be a dominating force and make Sonya Deville tap out to her Arm Bar.
But the match between them and their respective partners (Naomi and Charlotte Flair) wasn’t much more than just a backdrop for the announcers to sell the eventual WrestleMania main event between The Queen and The Baddest Woman On The Planet.
8 Bayley Vs. Naomi - Super Showdown 2020 3.7
Speaking of Naomi, she was first part of Saudi history in one of the last big shows before the pandemic shut everything down. Bayley vs Naomi was the first-ever Women’s Title match to take place in Saudi, at Super Showdown 2020. Despite being the best athlete and one of the hardest-working wrestlers hands down, the challenger couldn’t make Bayley feel the glow and would wind up getting trapped in her shirt when Bayley face planted her to retain.
7 Men’s Elimination Chamber - Elimination Chamber 2022 3.52
With Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns firmly on a collision course at WrestleMania, it was all but academic that The Beast would leave Jeddah with the WWE World Title. The only question was how would Bobby Lashley get taken out of the equation (which happened after Seth Rollins tossed Riddle into Lashley’s pod, shattering it and taking out the now-former champion). Once Lesnar came in, he obliterated everyone and F-5ed Austin Theory from the top of the Chamber to claim his prize.
6 Jeff Hardy Vs. Jinder Mahal - Greatest Royal Rumble 2018 2.69
The first ever major event in Saudi was The Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018. On the undercard was Jeff Hardy defending the US Title against Jinder Mahal. Jeff Hardy would emerge victorious in just over six minutes. The match gets the distinction of being the first-ever stinker match to take place in the desert kingdom.
5 Shane McMahon Vs. Roman Reigns - Super Showdown 2019 1.55
For over a year and a half now, Roman Reigns has been the singular best reason to watch SmackDown and WWE in general. While he is currently unstoppable, we do unfortunately live in a world where Shane McMahon of all people holds a victory over The Big Dog. He had help thanks to a ref bump and a Claymore Kick from Drew McIntyre, but Shane-O-Mac still holds a victory over the future Tribal Chief.
4 Degeneration X Vs. Brothers Of Destruction - Crown Jewel 2018 0.67
It should have been a huge celebration of the Attitude Era when D-Generation X finally collided with The Brothers Of Destruction for the first time ever. Shawn Michaels actually did what was then thought to be unthinkable and came out of retirement.
Triple H tore his pec almost immediately and of course soldiered through. Kane’s mask also came off. Sometimes, even the greats have off-nights but seldom do four greats have an off-night at the same time. It’s a debacle that deserves to be seen.
3 Tyson Fury Vs. Braun Strowman - Crown Jewel 2019 0.67
Crown Jewel 2019 didn’t just have a stinker of an ending, but there was also a big faux pas in the history of wrestler vs. boxer matches in wrestling history. Braun Strowman took on the lineal heavyweight champion of the world Tyson Fury in what became a grudge match. Fury was able to defeat The Monster Among Men by countdown, but an enraged Strowman would attack Fury after the match with the Running Powerslam; clearly setting up a possible return match that didn’t happen.
2 Lars Sullivan Vs. Lucha House Party - Super Showdown 2019 .59
Did anyone, anywhere not named Vince McMahon think that Lars Sullivan was a good idea? The strange-looking human was being booked to be an unbelievable monster, despite looking nowhere near unbelievable.
Despite that, even he got a sweet Saudi payoff by decimating all three members of The Lucha House Party after the DQ loss because the Luchadors ganged up on the now-disgraced former superstar.
1 Goldberg Vs. Undertaker - Super Showdown 2019 .56
Because kicking Bret Hart’s head into the upper deck and ending his career wasn’t enough, Goldberg tried to end another legend’s legacy when he nearly killed The Undertaker by dropping him on his head in the main event at Super Showdown 2019. In 30 years' time, this might be the only time ever that you could see the always unflappable Deadman visibly pissed off at what happened.