WWE Superstars Vent About Saudi Arabia Travel Issues, Reportedly Felt Deserted

Every member of the WWE roster and production crew that was flown over to Saudi Arabia for this week’s Crown Jewel event has made it back to the United States, but there are still questions swirling around about why so many wrestlers were delayed from going home for nearly a full day. Both the flight company responsible for the chartered flight, Atlas Air, and the WWE released statements claiming that the delay was caused by mechanical issues with the plane, though numerous reports have since popped up refuting that. On top of that speculation, numerous wrestlers took exception with one part of WWE’s statement.

“With SmackDown emanating live from Buffalo, N.Y., several Superstars felt so strongly that they arranged for their own separate charter in order to make it back to the U.S. for the show. Due to unforeseen issues, that charter did not land until after the live broadcast on FOX,” the statement read. “The remainder of WWE’s Superstars, staff and crew departed on a charter set to depart Saudi Arabia on Friday.”

The few people that managed to leave the country before the delays included Vince McMahon, Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman (who both appeared on Friday Night SmackDown), Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. Numerous wrestlers either directly or indirectly called out the company for getting “left behind.”

“Next time we’ll pool our money together instead of being lazy,” Tyson Kidd commented on Harper’s post.

Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that the delay was potentially caused by issues between WWE and Saudi Arabia’s General Sports Authority, reporting that the company had yet to be paid for the Super ShowDown event earlier in the year within hours of Crown Jewel. As a result, the show aired on a delay in Saudi Arabia.

Meltzer said of the wrestlers he talked to, many of them felt “deserted” by the company during their long delay.

“I heard that from many different people,” Meltzer said. “The feeling was that because there were those problems that happened, whatever it was, the d—-waving contest… I had heard from one person who used that exact terminology to me. That ‘we were pawns in a d—-waving contest.’”

This week’s Monday Night Raw is expected to take place in Long Island without any more hiccups. With most of their roster unavailable, Friday’s edition of SmackDown heavily featured invading wrestlers from the NXT roster.