WWE Kickoff show panel host Sam Roberts as weighed in on the WWE Crown Jewel controversy and said he feels like Crown Jewel should not be held in Saudi Arabia. He one of the first personalities connected to WWE to publically say such.

Below is what he had to say courtesy of ProWrestlingSheet.com:

“I’m ok with the deal. Saudi Arabia has done a lot of questionable things, but I’m ok with the deal in general,” Roberts said. “But, my own personal opinion is that because of this story -– and because honestly the U.S. is still figuring out whether they’re gonna have to retaliate against Saudi Arabia , I don’t think that Crown Jewel should take place in Saudi Arabia…I think that the show should go on. The show must go on. A big investment has been made into this show. And it’s gonna cost WWE, it’s gonna cost them money. But I think WWE has gotta eat this one. They were featured on Vice, they were featured on John Oliver this week, and it’s not good press.” 

He added, “I would expect that they [WWE] have a backup plan already and at this moment, if you ask me today, I think they should use the backup plan. I think that WWE needs to figure out how to do this show outside of Saudi Arabia. If they want to go back, go back. We can have that discussion separately at another time. But I think for this one, for the sake of everybody involved … I think it would be a better thing if they did it outside of Saudi Arabia.”