Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight” aired a fake TV commercial for this week’s WWE pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, “Crown Jewel.”
It was not very supportive of the pro-wrestling promotion’s decision to stage the middle-eastern event as planned following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Watch the video below.
New Crown Jewel promo, from @LastWeekTonight pic.twitter.com/lTGImhwfV6
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 29, 2018
Khashoggi was killed earlier this month at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, where he had an appointment to pick up wedding papers. U.S. and Turkish officials both believe it was a planned murder orchestrated by the Saudi government, which Khashoggi had been critical of in his role as a Washington Post columnist.
Oliver isn’t just piling on WWE last minute either. On last week’s “Last Week Tonight” he took WWE to task over the fact that they hadn’t canceled the show immediately following the Khashoggi news.
This Sunday, the HBO host slammed WWE over a questionable cemetery promo for the event featuring The Undertaker and Kane shoveling dirt into a grave. Oliver also poked fun at the weird position John Cena currently finds himself in. Per unconfirmed reports, the company’s top baby face (the wrestling term for a good guy) has said he’ll bow out of “Crown Jewel” should it take place in Saudi Arabia, which is happening Friday.
Cena, who has been busy turning his superstardom into a movie career, is still advertised to appear in the show’s eight-man World Cup Tournament, though some wrestling reporters expect that storyline to change on this week’s TV. Reports have indicated that Daniel Bryan will also bow out of the event, in which he’s booked for a WWE Championship match against A.J. Styles. WWE has not commented on either reported adjustment to the card.
“WWE Crown Jewel” will stream live Friday starting at noon ET on WWE Network. Cable shows “Raw” and “SmackDown Live” begin at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network on Mondays and Tuesdays, respectively.