I know the current WWE regime and locker room pride itself on keeping everything internal and handling their stuff without speaking/leaking to the press for the most part, but I'm kind of surprised no one is speaking publicly about the absurd situation of WWE still trying to travel to Saudi for this show.

It would be one thing if they hadn't dealt with Saudi-related travel issues in the past, but they have. At the time, Dax was one of the few who was brave enough to speak publicly about it when Vince and co left them stranded. We're currently in the before times for Crown Jewel, when this show could still be moved/changed, and I imagine it's only going to become more apparent that it needs to be moved in the next week and a half.

I may have missed it - I know there was reporting that there are wrestlers speaking privately about not wanting to travel - but have any wrestlers spoken up publicly about it? Of course they'd be badmouthing their company, but it really stretches the limits of what's acceptable to remain quiet about in service of your job/the company, IMO.

They're once again making TKO out to be the boogeyman for this situation, but the top brass of WWE isn't at all advocating for their talent here if it's truly the case that top stars do not want to go. So far, there's only rumblings that Owens spoke up. I'm curious how others feel, though nothing has really come out yet.

There is no wrestler's union, nor does it ever seem like there will be, but good lord, this would be an ideal opportunity for some fuckin solidarity if WWE's workers stood together to tell TKO that they weren't risking their lives to travel for this show because (boo-hoo) the TKO stock might drop and Turki Al-Sheikh might keep BPD posting about who his Real Friends are.

I guess we can always bank on Punk wearing a specific color of gear out of protest without making any meaningful changes, though.

Bruce Prichard is leaving after Wrestlemania 43

His reactions were immense, they sent him to NXT just so that he could hold a belt, he became involved in the hottest women’s angle this side of COVID, he won the Intercontinental Championship from another top prospect at WrestleMania and then handed John Cena his final PLE defeat to regain said title. His rise to stardom was a big factor behind the Judgment Day’s popularity from 2022-25, to the point where even Rhea might not have been as popular without him.

And then, he just… spends 2026 jobbing? This was arguably his year for MITB, with all due respect to Penta. I’ve been reading here more of a sentiment in the last few weeks that guys like Dom and Trick having basic matches will limit them in the long run, but this is the same company that gave Jey Uso a Rumble and a WrestleMania WHC win the year after his stinker with Jimmy, so how much weight does that idea truly hold in 2026?

I guess we finally managed to get a Chelsea Green reign years after manifesting it, but it frustrates me that WWE seems to prefer keeping reliable heatseekers dormant for emergencies when some of those people are the guys you should be building around to start with. Bron’s another one who should be portrayed more dominantly than he has been, but at least he’s still within vicinity of the title, whereas Dom wasn’t even in this year’s ladder match.

Not trying to start a flame war, I just don't get why this always happens. You have Swerve and The New Level, and The Hurt Syndicate in AEW, and 916 in WWE. Black wrestlers can be fun solo acts, just look at Kevin Knight and Oba Femi, they're great. It's something I've noticed and I'm curious as to why. I'm also not saying they're bad acts either, just curiosity has me gripped.

As WWE prepares for another controversial visit to Saudi Arabia, former company executive George Barrios reflected on an incident that happened during his time with the promotion.

Barrios was co-president of WWE when the roster was delayed in Saudi Arabia after Crown Jewel 2019. The incident (where some questioned whether they were being held hostage) played a part in a shareholder lawsuit that WWE settled for $39 million in 2020.

Appearing on My World with Jeff Jarrett & Conrad Thompson, Barrios said he believes the incident has been “exaggerated to some degree.” He said issues like this aren’t actually as uncommon as fans would think, recalling the time a different country other than Saudi Arabia instituted an airport fee and forced WWE to pay it if they wanted to leave.

“I don’t know what the right phrase — I think it was exaggerated to some degree,” Barrios said about the 2019 situation. “And again, look, back to doing business in other countries, there were other runways around the world where our plane was delayed. I remember somebody calling like, ‘Hey, to get [out], there’s a new fee.’ It was not in Riyadh, it was in a different country, I won’t name it. But we’re getting called, our plane had been delayed and somehow it had gotten serious enough that it reached my desk. Usually this stuff is just getting handled, but it reached my desk because a new fee had been instituted in this country — airport fee — that was a lot of money to get out. And somebody said, someone could look at this and say, ‘You’re being extorted to be let out of the country.’ I guess it depends on how you want to look at it.

“But in that moment, there was a fee. And so what did I say? I said, ‘Pay the f***ing fee. We’re coming home, right? So I don’t even know why you’re calling me. Yes, it’s a lot of money. But yeah, we’re paying the airport fee.’ If anybody’s listening and is going to charge me with a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, I say bullsh*t, it was then law in that country and we obeyed it.”

Barrios then clarified that he wasn’t trying to say the 2019 Saudi incident was the exact same thing as what went on with this other undisclosed country.

“So when you ask about what happened in Saudi Arabia, I think for the most part, I don’t know exactly, and I’m not trying to say there was an analog there — I’m just saying there was a delay and then we got out, and I’ll leave it at that,” he said.

The 2019 Crown Jewel event was held on a Thursday. Because of the plane incident, talent missed that Friday’s SmackDown episode before making it home by Saturday.

Barrios departed WWE in early 2020 and recently released a book about his time with the company.

Article features interviews with KAIRI, Sareee and Mayu talking about her beloved dog.