WWE Talent Leave Saudi Arabia Without Issue

The "Wall Street Journal" reported on November 1 that Iran was readying a potential attack in Saudi Arabia and Erbil, Iraq, where United States troops are based. As a result, the Saudi Arabian government warned the U.S. to be on "high alert." WWE remained hopeful that all would be fine, leading into their annual Crown Jewel event from the kingdom and went forward with the event with "security protocols and emergency contingencies in place."

WWE Crown Jewel went as planned, and according to PWInsider, and WWE talent were able to leave the kingdom of Saudi Arabia without issues, putting an end to the stressful saga. PWInsider also notes that some booked private travel, while others took group flights back to the United States, also mentioning a layover in "Paris or London."

Travel to and from Saudi Arabia has been an issue for WWE in the past. Following the 2019 Crown Jewel event, WWE talent were delayed in returning to the U.S. due to reported mechanical issues with their flight through Atlas Air, which led to the following "WWE SmackDown" being run by a skeleton crew.

The situation was complicated by WWE announcer Hugo Savinovich, who said that the flight was actually held up due to financial issues. Savinovich stated that he heard from a source close to the situation that WWE had not received payment for two WWE events held in the kingdom. WWE later denied to Forbes that the plane issues had anything to do with money. Since then, WWE has returned to Saudi Arabia for three events with a gap between February 2020 and October 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the security concerns and past issues, WWE Crown Jewel went forward without issue, though Logan Paul did sustain a leg injury in his main event match with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.