Natalya Discusses What Happened With The Delays In Saudi Arabia, Her Experience In The Country

Natalya was a guest on Hot 97 on Monday and discussed the travel delays in Saudi Arabia that WWE blamed on mechanical issues with the plane but have launched some conspiracy theories. Highlights are below.

On what happened with the travel delays in Saudi Arabia: “We boarded a flight, they told us to get off the plane because there was mechanical issues. So for me, if I ever hear there’s mechanical issues on a flight, I don’t think about anything else other than my safety, because I sure as hell don’t want to be in the air when there’s a mechanical issue. Knock on wood, everything worked out. For me, I luckily had some great protein bars in my bag, took some selfies with Lana in the lobby.”

On how long the delay was: “After the show in Saudi, we went to the airport to board the flight, and then there was just a series of mechanical issues. So we were told by the flight attendants, ‘Hey everybody has to deplane.’ So we all deplaned and then they took us to a hotel, so we stayed at a five star hotel, ate some more amazing hummus, and for me, we deal with so many travel issues all the time, like I said, I was just told to deplane because there was mechanical issues, and that’s basically the extent of it.”

On her experience in Saudi Arabia and wrestling the first women’s match in the country: “I had such a good experience. Now only was the hummus the best damn hummus I’ve had in my life, but everybody was just so nice to us. It’s a very clean, beautiful country. Not only was the food good, the people were extremely nice to us. I felt like, because WWE has such a great relationship with Saudi Arabia, we were just treated so well. And there were so many women there that embraced us so much, even after the match. I said to Lacey [Evans], after the match we can walk up the ramp together, but we couldn’t even make it to the ramp, because everybody was hugging, all these women, front row, we were just being so embraced by children and women.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.