WWE Night Of Champions Production Employees Reportedly Unable To Fly Out Of Qatar

By Daisy Ruth
A WWE logo shines from the WWE wrestling world headquarters on January 28, 2024 in Stamford, Connecticut. WWE founder Vince McMahon resigned from the WWE and its parent company TKO as executive chairman and board of directors following allegations of sexual assault in a Connecticut lawsuit. A former employee Janel Grant accused McMahon, 78, of sexual assault and sexually trafficking her. John Moore/Getty Images

A crew of WWE production employees are reportedly stuck at a Qatar airport ahead of Night of Champions on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia amid continued unrest in the Middle East following the bombing of nuclear sites in Iran by the United States over the weekend and Iran retaliation on a US military base in Qatar on Monday.

The airspace around Qatar is temporarily shut down, and according to Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline, WWE employees who flew in early to begin production on the premium live event are now stuck in the country and currently unable to travel to Saudi Arabia, which borders Qatar. Fightful Select also reported that there is word within the company that the staff members who arrived early in the Middle East are currently stuck in Qatar.

According to PWInsider, however, some WWE employees have been in Saudi Arabia since last week. Additional production staff have been arriving to the country and setup for Night of Champions has been going on for at least a week. PWI reported that as of Monday, setup for the event has continued as per schedule.

WWE has not confirmed that any of its employees are currently stranded while attempting to get to Riyadh. There is also no word on how many WWE employees are in Qatar or when they could possibly travel safely to Saudi Arabia. The airspace around the country is also reportedly closed to all flights as a precautionary measure. WWE has also not issued a statement regarding the status of Night of Champions and if it will go ahead on Saturday. "WWE SmackDown" is also set to emanate from Riyadh on Friday.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that Qatar indicated Iran fired 19 missiles at the base. One reportedly hit, but no causalities were reported. The attack on the US base happened shortly after the airspace was closed as a precaution, according to the AP.

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