Dave Meltzer Details Strikes As WWE Talent Left Saudi Arabia After Crown Jewel

Dave Meltzer has chronicled WWE Crown Jewel and the strikes that happened in Riyadh as talent were leaving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

WWE ran its scheduled show in Riyadh on November 7 without a hitch, even with the backdrop of fatal airstrikes from Yemeni Houthis. The US State Department had been increasing its warnings about travelling to the region, with some US diplomats eventually pulled. But WWE never seemed likely to change its trajectory, for which they would be receiving a reported $50-55 million. 

Meltzer wrote during this week's "Wrestling Observer Newsletter" that it was "very clearly profits over safety," but the odds were always that nothing untoward would happen. On the day of Crown Jewel, a cruise missile was intercepted over Riyadh. The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, has claimed strikes on King Khalid International Airport, Aramco facilities, and a National Guard camp in Najran. 

Meltzer noted that WWE talent avoided the airport on arrival, flying instead to Bahrain and taking a five-hour drive into Riyadh. But they did leave from King Khalid the next day. Per Meltzer, just as they were leaving, ballistic and cruise missiles were fired toward Riyadh and other regions in the Kingdom. 

Shrapnel and debris from an intercepted missile hit the Saudi Aramco administrative tower in the King Abdullah Financial District, blowing out windows across multiple floors. KAFD is home to the Riyadh Season Stadium, the original site for Crown Jewel before the venue was changed to the ANB Arena in the Ar Rahmaniyah District. Meltzer did note that talent were staying near the Aramco building.

It was reported after the November 8 strikes that WWE talent had left before they happened. But it has since emerged that Bronson Reed, a medical official, and an international executive remained after Reed was hospitalized.