A former WWE Superstar is now a confidential witness in a lawsuit against the company. WWE is being sued by stockholders who feel the company has misrepresented the nature of its dealings in Saudi Arabia. In documents relating to the case, a former WWE wrestler who was in Saudi Arabia last year for Crown Jewel, speaks about what happened that caused members of the WWE roster to be unable to fly out. Several wrestlers missed that week’s Smackdown as a result.
“A former WWE wrestler, who performed for the Company from 2012 to April 2020 and who participated in the October 31st, 2019 Crown Jewel event, confirms the substance of media reports,” reads documents relating to the suit.
“CW-2 (the former WWE wrestler) explained that he spoke with a stewardess on the flight about the delay, who told him ‘it seems someone doesn’t want us to leave the country.’ CW-2 further explained that the pilot sounded ‘distressed’ when he informed the passengers the flight was unable to take off.”
The report continued to mention that the witness feels they weren’t being allowed to leave the country due to an argument between the Crown Prince and Vince McMahon over late payments.
“CW-2 explained that he asked the Senior Director of Talent Relations, Mark Carrano, about what was going on and that Carrano told him that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and McMahon had gotten into an argument over late payments in connection with the June 7, 2019 Super ShowDown event.”
Middle East Broadcasting Center Employee Also Confidential Witness
The documents also include statements from an employee of the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC). These statements confirm that the Saudi government-controlled network and WWE encountered issues coming to terms on a licensing deal.
“WWE then reduced its licensing fee ask to $50 million. However, MBC felt it could not go above $14.5 million. CW-1 (the MBC employee) was later informed that MBC and WWE concluded their negotiations due to the differences in ‘numbers.'”
