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WWE hosted the second edition of Crown Jewel PPV on October 31, 2019 at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event was in news for many reasons with "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt becoming the new Universal Champion and Brock Lesnar squashing Cain Velasquez. But none of them compared to the news of WWE's flights getting delayed after Crown Jewel and Superstars being stranded in Saudi Arabia.
While there were many theories about what caused the delay, the official word was that there were mechanical issues due to which the flight couldn't take off on time. Speaking to the Wrestling Inc, former WWE Superstar Heath Slater recalled his experience about the delayed flight after Crown Jewel 2019.
"It's one of those things where you are there and you know something's up but you don't know what's up, but we all got out okay. I still don't know the truth. I heard there were mechanical reasons and it was this and it was that. When I was on the plane, I fell asleep for five hours and when I woke up, I looked over at Hawkins. I'm like, 'Where are we at' and he says we haven't even left yet."
"That's when I was like, 'What the heck?' We get off the plane and go over to the hotel. We wait and then get back on the plane and hope that we take off. We do but who knows? I really don't know."
There were all sorts of talk on the Internet when over 175 Superstars and crew were stranded in the Middle East after Crown Jewel 2019. With some Superstars tweeting about the situation, there were concerns about their well-being and whether they felt any danger. Heath Slater had the following to say in that manner -
"You go back to the hotel, get some food, hit the gym and go to sleep. You don't really think about being uncomfortable because there's nothing uncomfortable around you. You're just in the hotel again. Everyone was really nice and friendly, but you don't really know. That makes it even scarier sometimes [laughs]."
The aftermath of the Crown Jewel delayed flight
With Crown Jewel taking place on Thursday, WWE was scheduled to air Friday Night SmackDown immediately after it. With the majority of the roster stuck in Saudi Arabia, WWE had to re-write the entire script of the show at the last moment.
Interestingly, the episode that followed Crown Jewel turned out to be one of the best SmackDown episodes in recent history. Many NXT talents appeared on the show and it started the build towards the RAW vs SmackDown vs NXT Survivor Series showdown.
Few of the top moments of the night were Brock Lesnar leaving SmackDown with the WWE Championship, Adam Cole successfully defending his NXT Championship against Daniel Bryan in the main event, and finally Triple H coming out to send a message to the main roster on behalf of the black and gold brand!
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