World Wrestling Entertainment made history last week, but it was not without controversy.
The WWE held its “Crown Jewel” event in Saudi Arabia, featuring the first women’s wrestling match in the Kingdom.
But the event didn’t go smoothly as the WWE cut the feed to the event as the oil-rich country had failed to pay the network for the broadcast, according to wrestling commentator, Hugo Savinovich.
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The Sportskeeda sports app and other outlets had reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman retaliated for the chaos by detaining a plane set to fly 175 WWE staffers, including numerous high-profile wrestlers, out of the country.
The WWE blamed the late take-off on “mechanical issues.”
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWE | WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT INC. | 53.16 | -2.80 | -5.00% |
Shares of WWE dropped 5 percent in regular trading Monday over the news, adding to last week’s decline on disappointing quarterly results and a forecast cut.
WWE co-President George Barrios partially blamed the company’s reduced outlook on unexpected delays to the Saudi Arabia deal, according to the New York Post.
WWE HOLDS HISTORIC FIRST-EVER WOMEN’S WERESTLING MATCH IN SAUDI ARABIA
Barrios mentioned an “outstanding” $60 million receivable originally scheduled to arrive before the third quarter’s end on Sept. 30.
The shares rebounded, gaining 6.3 percent in extended training on news that the WWE and Saudi Arabia had expanded their partnership for live events.
The payment of that bill was made shortly after the end of the quarter, according to the Post, paving the way for Monday’s announcement of a new events agreement.
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The eight-year deal calls for the WWE to stage two major events in Saudi Arabia every year.
