WWE in Saudi Arabia: New Universal champion to be crowned at Crown Jewel as Shawn Michaels returns

A busy night of action set for Jeddah on Friday as the inaugural WWE World Cup takes place

Brock Lesnar goes for a sixth WWE world title reign on Friday in Saudi Arabia. Image courtesy of WWE

Crown Jewel, the WWE's second network special to be held in Saudi Arabia, takes place on Friday November 2 in Riyadh.

The event is being held at the King Saud University Stadium, with the action due to start at 8pm UAE time.

Here is a look forward to the event and what to look for.

Background

The event is part of a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership between WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030.

The Greatest Royal Rumble was held in April in Jeddah to start the relationship, with Braun Strowman winning a 50-man Royal Rumble in the night's main event.

The second show takes place on Friday and will see both men's world titles on the line in matches, as well as the inaugural WWE World Cup and the in-ring return to action of Shawn Michaels after eight years.

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Shawn Michaels returns

Michaels retired from in-ring action after losing to the Undertaker at WrestleMania 26.

But he is back in the ring in a competitive match as he partners with Triple H against Undertaker and Kane in a tag match.

Michaels has stayed involved in the business, and he helped Triple H triumph in a singles match against Undertaker earlier in October at Super ShowDown in Melbourne.

Vacant Universal title

A WWE world champion is set to be crowned in Saudi Arabia for the first time as Strowman faces Brock Lesnar for the vacant WWE Universal title.

Roman Reigns vacated the title early this month as he is taking time away from the business as he announced that his leukemia, which had been remission since 2008, had relapsed.

Lesnar was the previous champion and Strowman the No 1 contender, and a triple threat had initially been planned.

But now it will be the latter pairing going one on one, with the winner the new champion. Strowman has never held a WWE world title, while Lesnar is five-time champion.

Rest of the card

AJ Styles will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Samoa Joe, while Cesaro and Sheamus will put the Raw Tag Team titles on the line against New Day.

The inaugural WWE World Cup will be made up of four Raw superstars (Kurt Angle, Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Lashley) and four SmackDown superstars (Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy and The Miz) in a knockout tournament.