This time last week, it appeared that GUNTHER and Finn Balor were on a collision course to wrestle at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Instead, the match didn't happen, and on Monday, Dave Meltzer reported the match was called off after GUNTHER opted out of traveling to Riyadh.Hours later on "Wrestling Observer Radio," Meltzer confirmed the details of his report, and also revealed that GUNTHER had lost a dark match before "Raw" that night to Trick Williams. It's a loss that raised the eyebrow of both Meltzer and co-host Bryan Alvarez, who wondered if this was punishment for GUNTHER backing out of Crown Jewel."I mean, it's possible this is all coincidental," Meltzer said. "It is possible...it's absolutely possible. Because in a dark match, the babyface does go over. That's the rule. I mean, usually with a guy at the level of GUNTHER, they'll do a run-in and a DQ...cause they protect the top guys in these type of matches. So there's probably something to this."Meltzer pointed out that while WWE had initially been ambivalent over talents that decided not to travel to past Saudi shows, that had changed over the last few years."Originally, if you said no, you said no and all was understood," Meltzer said. "And then it got where if you say no to going, well you can say no, but we're going to have to readjust your push. Or if you're a champion, it's like 'You don't have to go, but you have to drop the belt before the show.' That's the gist of how it's been for the last couple of years."Though neither Meltzer nor Alvarez could confirm GUNTHER was being punished, Alvarez did note that GUNTHER had never lost a dark match in WWE prior to this loss to Williams, and had largely been protected in non-televised events, losing them by DQ or countout until recently.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
