Heath Slater Says He Still Doesn’t Know What Happened On Flight From Crown Jewel

Last year, the WWE’s return flight from Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia was delayed, forcing most of the roster to miss the following night’s episode of Smackdown. There were several rumors about what happened and why it happened, but WWE’s public story was that it was a mechanical delay with the plane. In an interview with Wrestling Inc, Heath Slater said that he’s still not sure what happened that caused the delay. Here are highlights:

On his reaction to being on the delayed flight: “It’s one of those things where you are there and you know something’s up but you don’t know what’s up. But we all got out okay. I still don’t know the truth. I heard there were mechanical reasons and it was this and it was that. When I was on the plane, I fell asleep for five hours and when I woke up, I looked over at Hawkins. I’m like, ‘Where are we at’ and he says we haven’t even left yet. That’s when I was like, ‘What the heck?’ We get off the plane and go over to the hotel. We wait and then get back on the plane and hope that we take off. We do but who knows? I really don’t know.”

On if it ever feels unsafe in Saudi Arabia: “You go back to the hotel, get some food, hit the gym and go to sleep. You don’t really think about being uncomfortable because there’s nothing uncomfortable around you. You’re just in the hotel again. Everyone was really nice and friendly, but you don’t really know. That makes it even scarier sometimes [laughs].”