Reason Daniel Bryan Refused To Work Crown Jewel, Women’s Tag Titles

– One of the most anticipated matches for Crown Jewel never officially happened. WWE Champion AJ Styles was set to take on Daniel Bryan before politics got in the way. Along with John Cena, Bryan also spoke out about not competing at Crown Jewel due to the mounting pressure over political and humanitarian issues.

Instead, WWE had Styles defeat Bryan on Tuesday’s SmackDown and Samoa Joe was then placed into the title bout opposite Styles. Even before being booked in title match at Crown Jewel, Bryan pitched an idea for The Miz to win at Super Show-Down from Australia; giving him the title shot and avoiding this entire situation.

In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Bryan’s reason for not attending the show was explained. Despite working the Greatest Royal Rumble earlier in the year, Bryan studied up on the culture of Saudi Arabia. While Saudi Arabia is known to look down upon certain groups of people like women, it was their negative attitude toward homosexuals that made Bryan take a stand. Plus, Bryan is friends with Sami Zayn; who is Syrian and there are a big issues there. Bryan viewed Crown Jewel as an almost racist show.

Bryan is back on the road with WWE, working their current European tour across Scotland, Spain, England, Italy and Germany. 

– At recent WWE events, there have been signs going around that state. “We Want Women’s Tag Championship.” WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix grabbed a copy and tweeted the picture as seen below.

Ever since WWE announced the Evolution pay per view over the summer, there has been speculation of female tag team titles. Many thought they would debut at last week’s Evolution, but that did not happen.

Still, it seems to be on the horizon. Stephanie McMahon hinted in an interview last month that the moment was going to happen sooner than latter.