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Saudi Arabia is the center of controversy yet again, but this time, WWE has found itself in the eye of the storm. Following WWE Crown Jewel, reports emerged that WWE Superstars were stranded in Saudi Arabia after they had to get off the plane they had boarded to return home.
Since then, rumors have run rampant about what exactly went on between Saudi Arabia and WWE, and if there was far more behind them being told to get off the plane.
In this article, I am going to outline what has been reported, and what this could mean for the future relationship between Saudi Arabia and WWE. Please note, the facts of most of the reports are not confirmed.
What happened after WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia?
After the WWE Crown Jewel pay-per-view, the WWE Superstars were supposed to board their planes to return to the United States, with a large portion of the roster scheduled to take part in the broadcast of SmackDown on Fox.
However, this is where issues first became apparent to the public. AJ Styles talked about the details of what happened when they tried to board the plane on his Mixer stream. He said that the crew was not allowed to board the plane and while he is not sure what the problem was, he heard that fuel truck that was essential to their plane leaving was not working as the person operating the fuel truck had gone home. They were also told that there were issues with paperwork.
Finally, they were allowed to board the plane, only for something to be wrong with the fuel. All the excessive delays caused the pilots to time out citing the mechanical issues, thereby saying that there was not going to be a flight at that moment. They had to return to the hotel, where he says he had the best sleep of his life, rubbishing reports of there being soldiers with guns. He said that the reports were exaggerated. He admitted that he had no knowledge of issues with the Crown Prince.
He ended by saying that if he found out that there were issues and someone was at fault, he would confront that person.
This more or less matches the statement that WWE had issued regarding the incident, although there was no mention of the separate charter they talked about.
"More than 175 Superstars, production crew and employees boarded a 747 charter flight back to the United States on Thursday. After the door closed, due to several aircraft problems including mechanical issues, all passengers sat on the tarmac for more than six hours.
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 remainder of WWE's Superstars, staff and crew departed on a charter set to depart Saudi Arabia on Friday."
While the Superstars were not able to make the show, NXT stepped in on SmackDown and invaded, thus saving the show at the last minute.
Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, and Tyson Fury were all able to fly out on private jets before the travel issues had risen, thus they had left the country without knowing what would happen to the Superstars who were catching a later flight out of KSA.
There were reportedly a couple more Superstars who left, but it is not known who they are. It should be noted, Cain Velasquez did not leave the country with Vince McMahon and was stuck with the rest of the Superstars.
Read on to know about what happened between Vince McMahon and the Crown Prince, and the possible damaged future relationship between Saudi Arabia and WWE.
What happened between WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and the Crown Prince?
As stated previously, WWE said that mechanical issues were to blame for the travel delays experienced by WWE Superstars in Saudi Arabia.
However, former WWE Spanish announcer Hugo Savinovich talked about the same issues. Savanovich's wife passed away some time back. In a call, a WWE Executive made to him to offer condolences, Savanovich said he talked about the issues experienced by WWE Superstars in Saudi Arabia. He said that the issues experienced by the Superstars were not due to mechanical issues but due to issues between WWE and Saudi Arabia.
Apparently, Saudi Arabia owed WWE money for the last two shows in the tune of millions. In retaliation, Vince McMahon cut the feed for Crown Jewel until the payment was made. They came to an agreement after the show had started and it was aired in KSA on a 40-minute tape delay.
The Saudi Arabian Prince was not happy with this and stopped them from leaving the country and told them to get off the place.
This again, is pure hearsay, although Savinovich is a dependable source and has contacts all over the industry.
This entire issue might put a wrench in the works of future Saudi Arabia shows.
Read on to know more about the future of WWE in Saudi Arabia, and Superstars having issues with WWE.
What does this mean for the future relationship between Saudi Arabia and WWE?
Currently, WWE has a contract with Saudi Arabia for 10 years to host two events in the country on an annual basis. However, with payment delays and the government preventing people from leaving, it is safe to say relations are not stable at the moment between the professional wrestling company and KSA.
On top of that, WWE Superstars have been vocal about not wanting to go back to the country to perform ever again. Several Superstars have aired their grievances and it can be assumed more will do so when they are free to talk about it.
The Superstars are less than happy with how the entire trip and the discontent is evident. The families of the Superstars were unhappy as well, with Karl Anderson's wife telling him to never go back to Saudi Arabia, no matter what.
There appear to be issues in the WWE locker room as well, with Luke Harper saying he guessed he was '#NotTop20' in his Instagram post, in reference to the reports saying only a chosen few Superstars had returned.
Karl Anderson also posted a tweet, saying that it would be interesting to see who the locker room leader would be on Monday Night RAW. This could either imply that there were problems among the Superstars during the delay or could simply be a part of the storyline ahead of Survivor Series.
The future of the relationship does not seem steady at all at the moment, and if Superstars refuse to go back to the country then shows will be difficult to host as well. However, Vince McMahon is a businessman first and foremost. If he is able to come to an agreement with Saudi Arabia, address the issues that have cropped up, and settle the rumored payment disputes, WWE could definitely be returning to Saudi Arabia in 2020, if the money was right.
The Superstars would also have to be on board, which they again might be if the payments made to them made sense.
It will also be interesting to see what sort of RAW we get tonight and how the Superstars act on-air.
Currently, most of the reports concerning Saudi Arabia are not anything more than speculation and it would be best to take all of it with a grain of salt. Until more concrete news emerges in the future, it might be best, for now, to focus on the fact that thankfully nothing eventually went wrong, and everyone is back safe from the country.
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