Add Aleister Black to the list of talent who will not be traveling to Saudi Arabia for Super ShowDown. According to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, Black’s tattoos are the reason he won’t be on the show.
“Aleister Black’s situation, I don’t know the full details, what I do know is that this was not his choice,” Dave Meltzer said. “This was a choice made for him. I don’t know if it was made by the Saudi Arabian government or by WWE because they didn’t want to offend the Saudi Arabian government.”
“The deal with him is that his tattoos apparently have some religious connotations that the belief is will offend the hosts of the show so they don’t want him going.”
John Cena, Aleister Black, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Daniel Bryan will not be attending or performing at Super ShowDown. In the case of Zayn, he has not attended any of the shows due to his Syrian background. Bryan asked not to go to the last show as well. Owens is said to have asked not to go and this was granted.
Owens not going to Saudi Arabia is what ultimately led to Dolph Ziggler attacking Kofi Kingston on Tuesday night and building an angle for the show in Saudi Arabia.