Former WWE co-president George Barrios has addressed the controversy surrounding the company’s delayed departure from Saudi Arabia following Crown Jewel 2019, suggesting that some of the speculation surrounding the incident may have been exaggerated.
The situation attracted significant attention after numerous WWE Superstars and staff members experienced an extended delay while attempting to leave Saudi Arabia following the event. Rumors subsequently circulated that talent had been prevented from departing against their will, although the circumstances surrounding the delay remained disputed.
The controversy also became part of a shareholder lawsuit involving WWE, which the company settled for $39 million in 2020.
During an appearance on Jeff Jarrett’s podcast, co-host Conrad Thompson asked Barrios about the incident and whether he could explain what happened from his perspective as a senior WWE executive at the time.
“I don’t know what the right phrase is—I think it was exaggerated to some degree,” Barrios responded.
Rather than providing a detailed account of the Saudi Arabia incident, Barrios recalled a separate experience involving WWE’s international travel arrangements. He explained that delays involving chartered aircraft were not uncommon when the company conducted business overseas, sometimes requiring senior management to intervene.
“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?”
Barrios suggested that situations involving unexpected financial demands or administrative requirements could be interpreted differently depending on the circumstances. He recalled instructing WWE personnel to pay the fee in the separate incident so the company’s aircraft could depart.
“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.”
The former WWE executive also referenced the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act while explaining that he considered the payment a legitimate airport charge required under the laws of the country involved.
“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.’”
However, Barrios was careful not to claim that the same circumstances applied to WWE’s delayed departure from Saudi Arabia in 2019. He acknowledged that he did not know exactly what had happened and stopped short of providing a definitive explanation for the incident.
“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.”
Barrios’ comments offer insight into the logistical complications WWE sometimes encountered while operating internationally, but they do not establish what caused the Crown Jewel 2019 travel delay.
Although he believes aspects of the controversy were exaggerated, the former co-president’s remarks leave the central questions surrounding the incident unresolved, more than seven years after it occurred.
