WWE issues statement regarding payment dispute with Saudi Arabia
The rumor mill has been buzzing over the weekend after news came through that WWE Superstars were stuck in Saudi Arabia following the Crown Jewel pay-per-view. WWE released a statement ahead of SmackDown on Friday night declaring that "mechanical issues" were the reason why 175 employees were stuck in the Middle East for an extra day, but various reports have since disputed this.
There have been a number of outlets that have linked Saudi Arabia's live feed being cut at the Crown Jewel show to the fact that the country is still yet to pay WWE for a number of shows in the Middle East. There are reportedly documents that back this up dating back to WWE's recent earnings call, something that has been brought up by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer.
WWE's statement
There have been a number of Superstars who have also hinted that there was more to this issue than mechanical problems, which has forced WWE to release another statement. The statement is in response to the rumored payment dispute. While Forbes' Alfred Konuwa first reported that WWE denied all reports, SEScoops recently carried the following statement.
“We have a good relationship with our partners, and the feed issues were unrelated to anything of that nature [payment dispute]. We’ve been public with mechanical issues, the charter company has as well”
AJ Styles recently spoke about the issues he faced in Saudi Arabia freely, but while the RAW Superstar has been able to talk about the fact that the WWE Superstars were in no imminent danger, other stars have taken to Twitter to point out that there was much more to this whole scenario than mere mechanical problems.
Do you think WWE only experienced mechanical issues? Have your say in the comments section below.