PWInsider is reporting that claims of WWE talent avoiding the Riyadh airport during Crown Jewel weekend are not true. Despite the majority of the roster getting to Saudi Arabia on a bus, the talent left on a flight out of Riyadh.
“It’s been erroneously reported that WWE talents ‘avoided’ the Riyadh airport.”
WWE did go with a different route, but only on the way in. Almost all of the roster flew into nearby Bahrain and then spent about five to six hours on a bus to Riyadh. That’s what led to the rumors.
PWInsider noted that some names flew directly in and out of Riyadh on a private plane, but that was the exception, not the rule.
But the roster flew out of King Khalid International Airport, which was hit by a missile attack on October 10, shortly after the WWE stars left the country. They flew from Riyadh to Bahrain and then straight to Greenville, South Carolina, where they arrived on Sunday afternoon.
False Finish reports that WWE also changed its schedule after the show so wrestlers and crew could get out of the building almost immediately.
So the WWE roster was out of Saudi Arabia by the time Riyadh was hit by another round of attacks, also on Sunday. PWInsider noted that some of the production crew may have stayed in the city to take down the set, but there has been no word on anyone from WWE being affected.
Monday’s Raw, the first show since Crown Jewel, takes place in Greenville at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and airs at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix.
It was a much different story for WWE at Crown Jewel in 2019. Much of the roster was stuck in Riyadh and didn’t make it back to the U.S. for two days, so they missed SmackDown in Buffalo. This time, the wrestlers were in the U.S. the next day and a day before Raw.