The WWE roster is delayed in its return from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, following a historic performance at yesterday’s record-breaking WWE Crown Jewel event.
More than 175 Superstars, production crew and employees boarded a 747 charter flight back to the United States on Thursday. After the door closed, due to several aircraft problems including mechanical issues, all passengers sat on the tarmac for more than six hours. With SmackDown set to emanate live from Buffalo, N.Y., several Superstars felt so strongly that they arranged for their own separate charter in order to make it back to the U.S. for the show. Due to unforeseen issues, that charter will not land until after the live broadcast on FOX.
“Man, (you) see and do a lot of wild things with WWE. This travel day is no exception,” SmackDown Superstar Kofi Kingston said. “Tried our best to get to Buffalo tonight, unfortunately got out of our control but the show must go on!”
The remainder of WWE’s Superstars, staff and crew will depart on a charter set to depart Saudi Arabia later tonight.
As always with WWE, the show must go on. Live at 8/7 CT on FOX, SmackDown will feature Superstars, such as Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Carmella, Nikki Cross, Dana Brooke — plus, additional surprises.
UPDATE: The following statement was issued by Atlas Air, the operator of the charter flight.
“A chartered passenger flight operated by Atlas Air is currently delayed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia due to a mechanical issue. The flight was scheduled to depart at 3:00 AM AST on Nov. 1. Our top priority is always to ensure our passengers arrive safely and on time at their destination. The aircraft is being repaired and will be inspected and certified before returning to service to transport our passengers to their final destination. We regret that operational disruptions delayed the flight and apologize to our passengers who were inconvenienced.”
For the latest updates on this story and tonight’s SmackDown, check back with WWE.com and follow WWE on social media.
Article source: WWE.com
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