Heather McLaughlin made history for the company at Crown Jewel (Picture: WWE)
WWE photographer Heather McLaughlin has made history as the first woman to shoot one of the company’s shows in Saudi Arabia.
The wrestling giant returned to Riyadh over the weekend for Crown Jewel, which saw Jake Paul make his debut by getting involved in his brother Logan’s Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns.
Heather was there to capture the all the action at Mrsool Park stadium, and her role marked the first time WWE has had a female photographer shooting at ringside.
In one photo from the event, she can be seen smiling as she poses on the entranceway with the giant set behind her, while another shows her in the corner snapping a match in the ring.
In a third photo, Heather is keeping up with the brutal Last Woman Standing Match between Bayley and Bianca Belair, which saw the latter retain her Raw Women’s Championship against her rival.
It also marked the first time a Last Woman Standing Match has been held in Saudi Arabia, and Belair made further history as the EST of WWE became the first woman to compete with three different matches in the country.
Heather McLaughlin became the first female WWE photographer to shoot an event in Saudi Arabia (Picture: WWE)
She was at ringside for the entire event (Picture: WWE)
As well as this year’s title defence, she worked at last year’s Crown Jewel in a Triple Threat match, and won the titular match at the Elimination Chamber show in February.
Like the Newcastle United takeover in the Premier League, WWE’s presence in Saudi Arabia has been criticised with accusations of sportswashing.
When the company first held an event in the country in 2018, no women were allowed on the event, with WWE slowly introducing more women into the broadcast – including commentators and referees, as well as the wrestlers themselves.
Referee Aja Smith also made history over the weekend as she became the first Black woman to officiate a match in Saudi Arabia.
She tweeted after the event: ‘Championship matches, giants, and everything in between. Breaking barriers and changing perspectives slowly but surely. And cute af while I do it!
‘I’m damn proud. I can tell a lot of y’all are proud of me too. Let’s keep pushing! #WWECrownJewel #RefBae #BlackGirlMagic.
WWE has revealed Crown Jewel – which was headlined by Roman Reigns’ win over Logan Paul – drew the largest viewership of any international event in company history, with a seven-figure audience on Peacock representing a 70% increase over last year’s event.
WWE Raw (Mondays) and SmackDown (Fridays) air weekly at 1am on BT Sport 1.
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Heather McLaughlin captured the entire show from ringside.
