WWE came under criticism from some quarters about putting their employees in danger by hosting a show inSaudi Arabia when the Middle East was in a volatile situation. Former WWE star Matt Hardy believes that he would have gone to the country if he had been asked to.
WWE recently hosted Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, days after Iran was bombed by Israel and the US. Hardy, on his "Ask Matt Hardy Anything" section of his podcast, was asked whether he would have taken the decision to wrestle there during such a time. Hardy stated thathe would have gone and explained the reasons why he believes it would have been safe to wrestle there.
"If they had booked me at Saudi Arabia and, I guess, as they're saying now that everything's safe, yeah, I would go. I would just do what I was going to do as an employee of the company. I mean, if there was a full ass war going on and they were shooting missiles into Saudi Arabia and they were threatening, you know, and it wascurrently active and there wasn't any kind of agreement [I wouldn't go]," said Hardy. "I mean, it's just an insane concept as it is. I mean, I would imagine they wouldn't letanybody [in Saudi if there was a war]. I don't think if there was an active war zone going on over there, they wouldn't do the show there."
Night of Champions went off without a hitch as a ceasefire was agreed by all parties involved on June 23, five days before the show.
WWE has previously featured in active war zones for its Tribute to the Troops shows, which Matt Hardy was also a part of. He thinks that those shows were different from the one held in Saudi Arabia.
"I mean, you're not wrong [in response to being told Tribute to the Troops also took place in war zones], but it's just, I mean, I feel like it's different because just the situation, you know, with Iran and Israel was like so volatile, you know, and then you hear they attack an air base, Iran attacks an air base in Qatar. It just makes it kind of scary," Hardy said. "You think about a big group of Americans being over there, well-known Americans, you know, as far as the WWE goes. So, that's kind of a scary scenario. But it seems like, for the time being at least, everything is a ceasefire."
The recent war did affect WWE personnel ahead of Night of Champions, with reports emerging that they were stranded inQatar when they were traveling to Saudi Arabiadue to the airspace being closed.
WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry expressed confidence in WWE to keep their talent and personnel safe, emphasizing how the Saudi royal family would do everything in their power to keep them safe.
