Tonight's WWE SmackDown In CHAOS?

"WWE had a problem in Saudi Arabia"

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WWE.com

Friday's WWE SmackDown is facing catastrophe following reports that nearly all of WWE's main roster are currently unable to leave Saudi Arabia following yesterday's Crown Jewel pay-per-view.

Dave Meltzer has reported via Twitter that other than 12 unnamed talent, the entire remainder of the roster were still in the country, currently unable to leave.

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The event took place in Riyadh and ended just over 24 hours after SmackDown was due to kick off the following evening in Buffalo, New York. Despite the prospect of instead dedicating the event to the mostly frozen-out women's roster, the company instead elected to run the show as normal, booking a Miz TV segment with new Universal Champion Bray Wyatt, a Tag Team Title encounter between The New Day and The Revival, and a blockbuster battle between Roman Reigns and King Corbin.

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That version of the card at least is now in jeopardy, pending updates on the remainder of the roster making the 14-hour flight, or the specific "12" referred to above.

It was during Crown Jewel that the company also announced a six-woman tag match pitting Carmella, Dana Brooke and Nikki Cross against Bayley and Fire & Desire. As a consequence of this possible conundrum, this may yet be the only pre-booked offering guaranteed to go ahead. As notable absentees from Crown Jewel, Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan should also be on hand.

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More on this if and when updates become available.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett