Former WWE executive addresses airport incident following the 2019 Crown Jewel PLE
Former WWE executive George Barrios reflected on the controversy surrounding the roster’s delayed departure following Crown Jewel 2019. Barrios was WWE’s co-president at the time, and the incident sparked speculation about whether talent had been held against their will. The controversy also played a role in a shareholder lawsuit that WWE settled for $39 million in 2020.
While appearing on Jeff Jarrett’s podcast, Barrios was asked about the incident by co-host Conrad Thompson: “After one of those first Saudi events, there was a lot of rumor and innuendo online about a plane incident where some of the performers were not able to leave. I’m sure you at least heard about this, or it was on your radar. What really happened there, to the best of your understanding?”
Here was Barrios’ response…
“I don’t know what the right phrase is—I think it was exaggerated to some degree.
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, there’s a new fee.’ It was not in Riyadh; it was in a different country. I won’t name it, but we were getting called because our plane had been delayed, and somehow it had gotten serious enough that it had reached my desk. Usually, this stuff is just getting handled, but it reached my desk because a new airport fee had been instituted in this country. It was a lot of money, right?
Somebody could look at this and say you’re being extorted, being left out of the country. I guess it depends on how you want to look at it.
But in that moment, there was a fee. So, what did I say? I said, ‘Pay the f*cking fee. We’re coming home.’ So, I don’t even know why you’re calling me.
Yes, it’s a lot of money, but 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, ‘That was the law in that country, and we obeyed it.’
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. I’ll leave it at that.”