4.8 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2023
⏱️ 77 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston chat with Karim Zidan of Sports Politika on the WWE’s business partnership with the Government of Saudi Arabia.
They chat about the attitudes regarding the ten-year agreement that was announced in 2018, how Saudi Arabia views its image today, WWE’s navigation of the Jamal Khashoggi murder during the first year of the agreement, and his recent article on WWE’s Propaganda Spectacle.
Plus: Pollock & Thurston chat AEW Collision at the United Center, early ticket sales for Collision dates, Tony Khan’s call with the media, Nick Khan at the JPMorgan TMT conference, Dynamite ratings & Double or Nothing in Las Vegas.
Karim Zidan is an investigative journalist and you can read his work at Sports Politika
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0:00.0 | Hello everybody. It is John Pollock and Brandon Thurston. Hello. What's up? |
0:07.3 | Were you having cold feet about doing this? I had you ready there and then Brandon just got |
0:12.0 | up and left. He must have gone back. The tension was diverted, but you were right back here as we |
0:16.2 | wanted. Yes, I'm back. Well, we have a big show set for everybody as we are going to be talking |
0:22.2 | about WWE's return to Saudi Arabia for night of champions. And what a lead in we had |
0:27.6 | breath in the press conference just ended just wrapped up in Jeddah. They wanted to be watching |
0:32.7 | in time for us. Did they at all promote our show? At the end, did Michael Cole mention |
0:38.4 | go on over to the post-wrestling WrestleNomics YouTube? I don't think so. They did mention Kevin |
0:43.4 | Jones did introduce Sami Zayn and said that this is the man he's been waiting for for five years. |
0:48.3 | He didn't explain why why everyone was waiting for him for five years. So I was a little confused |
0:53.4 | about that, but maybe that's a little bit of the hint of what we're going to talk about today. |
0:57.8 | Well, we will be discussing that. And we have the perfect person to speak about the WWE's |
1:04.1 | relationship with the government of Saudi Arabia. Of course, they had done shows in Saudi Arabia prior |
1:09.2 | to 2018, but that is when I think the attention really did come upon WWE's involvement when they |
1:16.8 | signed this 10-year deal with the General Sports Authority. Now the General Entertainment Authority, |
1:23.1 | I believe, is sort of the name of the, that's the moment they are in business. |
1:28.4 | Among the people and entities who Triple H thanked earlier today. |
1:32.1 | Well, our guest today, you have seen his work in the New York Times, The Guardian, |
1:36.4 | a writer for Bloody Elbow, and also his own sub-stack, Sports Politica. And I would venture to |
1:42.8 | guest Brandon, the only reporter we have had on who has had a first-person perspective that he |
1:49.6 | has written with the title, Are the Death Threats Worth It. And we're talking about Karim Zadan, |
1:55.2 | who is with us Karim. Thank you so much for joining us. It's been a while since we have had you on, |
... |
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