What REALLY Happened To WWE In Saudi Arabia?
They insisted that despite what any members of the roster might have heard, the reason for the delay was the same reason they had given initially; the fabled "mechanical problems". It's been widely reported since that some members of the locker room were happy to accept this version of events, and others categorically were not.
As part of these reports, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer claimed that Seth Rollins had attempted to tow the company line, reassure his colleagues and warn them to be careful what they post on social media. This was angrily denied by Rollins on Twitter and Meltzer has since rowed back on it. The truth of the matter is known only to those who were in the meeting.
It's a similar situation with the flight delay. Only Vince McMahon and his counterpart in the SGSA will know the truth of what actually kept over 150 wrestlers, staff and production crew stranded in the Middle East for 24 hours last week.
There is a logical timeline that, with millions of dollars still outstanding between the two parties, several explosive discussions took place that led to A) an unscheduled $60m lump-sum arriving in WWE's bank account, B) a 40-minute broadcast delay while the details were smoothed out and, finally, C) their flight being grounded while the arguments persisted. In that scenario, WWE, the SGSA and indeed Air Atlas would likely all be happy to blame factors out of their control.
However, there is also the timeline that nothing went wrong at all. There were no disputes been these provenly combustible parties, a simple technical issue delayed a nationwide broadcast, a faulty plane suddenly needed a full day's worth of maintenance (despite being checked sufficiently to let passengers board), and that everyone directly involved simply got the wrong end of the stick.
With so many moving parts and so much secrecy, it's probably impossible for any one wrestler, or crew member, or journalist to get the full picture here. The full extent of it is known only to Vince and he's sticking to the company line because, well, he is the company. Further clues will no doubt be garnered in the unfolding relationship between WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority but, whatever happens, it'll not be dull.