The latest wrestler to speak on the travel issues WWE faced in Saudi Arabia is Natalya, who had this to say when asked about it by Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97:
”We boarded a flight. They told us to get off the plane because there were mechanical issues. So, for me, if I ever hear that there are mechanical issues on a flight I don’t think about anything else other than my safety, because I sure as hell don’t want to be in the air when there’s a mechanical issue. Knock on wood, everything worked out.”
She would go on to reiterate that, again, they were told there were “a series of mechanical issues” and that’s what forced everyone to deplane. The wrestlers were apparently taken to a hotel. Eventually, they made it back home just fine.
It’s worth noting that she said “I get it, I’ve been hearing everything and it makes for a really interesting story.” This represented the perfect opportunity to ask her to expand on that but Rosenberg didn’t once challenge anything she had to say. He just accepted the company line she was parroting that there were “mechanical issues.” Nattie was vague, with next to no details, and she wasn’t pressed on anything.
That’s with this out there:
One person in the company said WWE is trying to get video from as much talent as possible to claim the mechanical issues on the plane were the problem. Just the fact they would do this is very strange.
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) November 3, 2019
This is without even mentioning all the other reports floating around. This isn’t to say anything is being hidden, necessarily, but the fact that she wasn’t even challenged to expand on anything is unfortunate, to say the least.