So, hopefully I’ll be able to post an update on this shortly, as it is a still developing story. I contemplated waiting, but I do think we have now is still worth talking about… if you count this as still part of October, it’s another red line in the month-in-review for WWE.
Basically, most of the crew as of the time of writing appears to still be in Saudi Arabia. There’s some sort of issue going on. I realize that’s as vague as one could get from a news story, but it’s what I have to tell as of now. All we know is that there’s a flight delay, that apparently isn’t being caused by the weather or any issues with the plane itself.
To me, that’s concerning, especially given where they’re at. But I don’t think it’d be responsible to speculate much. Hopefully it’s not a major issue.
Should be noted that a number of people did manage to leave on a second charted plane. 20 people from WWE got on the flight, 12 of which were wrestlers. Hopefully the fact that this was allowed is a good sign, and the others will be on their way back from overseas shortly.
Aside from giving them my best regards, not much can be said from that standpoint.
But as far as wrestling goes, it does raise a major question as to what we can expect from tonight’s SmackDown.
At the time of writing, the show takes place in 15 and a half hours. The trip from Saudi to Buffalo NY where the show takes place is 14 hours. And it appears they don’t expect to get on there within the next hour and a half…
Yes, it really puts into perspective exactly how grizzly this schedule they had them on is. I already thought it was a pretty rough thing to put on their roster, nevermind the major effect a delay could have in that scenario, as we’re seeing now. Incidentally all this information comes from F4W/Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer and Jim Valley, tweets from whom will be added to the bottom of this article.
At the moment, we don’t know who the 12 wrestlers who got on that plane were, that information is not available. One might guess that they put their biggest names and the most essential personnel for putting on a show on there to try and make something of SmackDown in a worst case scenario. Of course, even besides the advertised matches and names, there’s also the question of whether they’ll even be able to assemble a proper production crew in time.
But as far as the card goes, there are workarounds.
You could build the show into an all-women’s special, something many were suggesting this show be in the first place, particularly back when people thought SmackDown and Crown Jewel were gonna end up being on the same day. Presumably Natalya and Lacey Evans were the only ones flown to Saudi Arabia, that’d be consistent with the attempt to put Nattie and Alexa Bliss on Super Show-Down.
This would also be a solid time to get creative and put together some kind of NXT SmackDown. With NXT’s involvement at Survivor Series, the exposure and storyline potential would be pretty solid there. If you wanna make lemons into lemonade, it’s probably what I’d go for. NXT women can still tussle with SmackDown’s women’s division, and the 12 people flown over from Saudi can interact as well… it’d certainly be a show with some intrigue.
Hopefully, whatever the issue in Saudi is gets cleared up soon and everyone comes back okay. With any luck, tonight’s SmackDown will be the only thing we have to worry about.
Some notes since nobody can say anything. WWE had a problem in Saudi Arabia. Talent was not allowed to leave on their flight and most are still there. 20 people, 12 of which were talent, have left but the rest are still there.
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) November 1, 2019
It's a 14 hour flight, Smackdown starts in 17 hours. The last we heard the rest of the talent wasn't going to be able to leave for a lot longer than three hours.
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) November 1, 2019
It wasn't a plane or weather issue. I'm recording with @davemeltzerWON right now. We'll have a WOR up for subscribers this morning. @WONF4W
— Jim Valley (@JimValley) November 1, 2019
