WWE Employees Stuck In Qatar As Saudi Arabia Halts Civilian Air Traffic (WWE News)
WWE production staff hit major travel problems yesterday.
With plenty of discussion over WWE's latest scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia for Night of Champions this weekend, those production employees who flew in early for the Premium Live Event have already hit major travel problems.
As people debate whether Night of Champions should go ahead in Saudi on Saturday, WWE is pushing ahead with the event in its current form and at its announced location of Riyadh's Kingdom Arena. So, various members of the production crew flew out on Monday, only to run into issues at Qatar airport.
Bryan Alvarez of f4wonline was one of the first to report on this, noting that these employees found themselves stranded when the airspace around Qatar was temporarily shut down. This was done to maintain the safety of visitors and citizens of Qatar, and also came at a time when the United States and the United Kingdom had instructed their Qatar-based citizens to find shelter until further notice.
Those restrictions were eventually lifted later on Monday, and the travelling WWE crew has since made their way safely to Saudi Arabia.
For those thinking there's a chance that WWE may opt to shake up their plans and either cancel Night of Champions or move it to a venue in the US, Alvarez reiterated, from a source he's spoken to, "The show is definitely happening in Saudi".
In terms of any alternative locations for Saturday's PLE, it was added that, due to the location of WWE production trucks in the US, the event may have been switched to somewhere between Ohio and Pennsylvania, with four or five venues as possibilities. Again, though, WWE is still moving ahead with Night of Champions in Riyadh.
With this week's Raw now in the books, the remaining Saudi-bound WWE personnel will head to the Kingdom in the coming days, with many said to be travelling out tomorrow. Not just is Night of Champions taking place from the Kingdom Arena, but so too is this week's edition of SmackDown. As such, it's not just those talents booked for the PLE who are travelling, but there'll also be additional SmackDown names who'll be needed for the blue brand's upcoming episode.
WWE has yet to publicly comment on any of the ongoing issues in the Middle East, while conflicting reports suggest that Iran and Israel may have agreed to a ceasefire in the aftermath of the US bombing several Iranian nuclear sites this past weekend.