5 top WWE stars who will not be traveling to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel

This year's WWE Crown Jewel PPV will be taking place on October 31st live from Saudi Arabia, and the event will feature the first combined RAW and SmackDown card since the WWE Draft took place earlier this month.

This year's event will feature Cain Velasquez making his WWE in-ring debut as he challenges Brock Lesnar for the WWE title, boxing Champion Tyson Fury will also make his in-ring debut against Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins will defend the WWE Universal title against The Fiend in a Falls Count Anywhere match, and more.

The WWE PPV events which take place in Saudi Arabia are always billed as major shows, with the first event in Saudi Arabia being billed as an event even more prestigious than WrestleMania itself.

However, despite the grand scale of the WWE events in Saudi Arabia, controversy surrounding the company's business dealings with Saudi Arabia have led to certain WWE stars refusing to make the trip to the country and will not be competing at Crown Jewel.

Given the above, let's take a look at five top WWE stars who will not be traveling to Saudi Arabia next week for Crown Jewel.

#5 Kevin Owens

For the past several months, WWE star Kevin Owens looked like he was on the fast track to becoming the top babyface on SmackDown, however, that push never quite materialized, despite Owens' top feud with Shane McMahon which culminated when Owens defeated McMahon in a Ladder Match on the SmackDown premiere on FOX.

Owens was then drafted to the Red Brand during this year's WWE draft, and despite KO making a surprise appearance in the main event of RAW this week to hit a stunner on AJ Styles, he has been mostly absent as WWE builds towards Crown Jewel.

Owens' lesser role on WWE TV since the draft is likely because Owens will not be traveling to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel, having informed WWE prior to the last trip to Saudi Arabia that he does not wish to travel to the country.