WWE talent apparently isn’t exactly being encouraged to skip Crown Jewel, despite all the recent talk about people backstage being unhappy with the upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia. In fact, a new report suggests saying no may not feel like much of an option at all.

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there have been no reports of any WWE wrestlers actually pulling out of Crown Jewel. Meltzer also noted that it isn’t clear whether talent were even specifically given the option to decline the trip.

That becomes more interesting because Meltzer spoke with one of WWE’s top stars about the situation. While keeping the wrestler anonymous, he reported that turning down the Saudi Arabia trip is “very much not being encouraged.”

So while nobody has been reported as officially refusing to work Crown Jewel, that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is thrilled about going. Based on what Meltzer was told, there appears to be some pressure within WWE for talent to make the trip rather than sit this one out.

That adds some important context to recent claims surrounding Kevin Owens. Jonathan Coachman previously said Owens was one of the names he had been given when discussing wrestlers who were allegedly “furious” backstage over the situation.

“Correct. Kevin Owens was one of the names that was told to me yesterday. So I respect that he’s saying something backstage.”

Owens is currently set to face CM Punk in a taped match at the Barclays Center rather than at Crown Jewel. However, there has been no confirmation that Owens actually refused to travel to Saudi Arabia or that the Punk match was moved because of any such refusal.

WrestleVotes had also previously addressed what could happen if somebody did decide to stay home. Their report claimed talent technically could refuse the trip and give up their payday, but doing so could potentially carry a stigma once they returned to work.

“They could say they’re not going, and they won’t get paid, and the rest of their career will be reflective of that. Not the pay, but the stigma — the position that they might find themselves no longer in. They can say, ‘I’m staying home. I’m watching it on my couch. You can figure it out,’ but things may be different when they go back to work.”

For all the noise surrounding Crown Jewel, nobody has actually been reported as pulling themselves from the show yet. The bigger question now is how much freedom WWE talent really feel they have to make that decision when one of the company’s own top stars is apparently saying that declining the trip is strongly discouraged.

Do you think WWE talent should be able to turn down an international trip without worrying about how it could affect their standing in the company? Let us know what you think in the comments.