With WWE officially on the ground in Saudi Arabia ahead of this weekend’s Royal Rumble, several backstage and travel-related notes have emerged as the company settles in for one of its biggest international events of the year.
One lighthearted moment from the trip involved the mystery man dressed as Spider-Man aboard WWE’s charter flight. Sources confirm the masked passenger was Damian Priest, who is said to regularly pull the stunt on long international flights as a way to entertain himself and those around him.
The WWE plane itself reportedly departed roughly seven hours later than scheduled due to inclement weather. Once the flight was airborne, however, everything went smoothly and there were no additional travel issues.
Talent and staff have also had some downtime since arriving. Several WWE wrestlers went camel riding on Wednesday as part of local excursions organized during the Saudi visit.
Behind the scenes, those directly involved with the physical construction of this year’s Royal Rumble were said to be extremely enthusiastic about how the Fan Zone is shaping up. The build has been a lengthy process, as construction on the physical Royal Rumble location reportedly began on Christmas Eve. Check out a tour of the special Royal Rumble stadium in Riyadh for Saturday’s Royal Rumble PLE in Saudi Arabia ahead of the big event.
Elsewhere backstage, there is said to be a noticeable divide among sources regarding AJ Styles’ long-term future with WWE, with no clear consensus internally on what comes next for him.
On the betting front, Bianca Belair currently holds the second-highest odds to win the Women’s Royal Rumble at several betting outlets. Despite the speculation, there have been no concrete updates on her status, to the point that even a contact at ESPN was reportedly reaching out for information.
In terms of who is already in the country, sources have confirmed that both Talla Tonga and Nikki Bella are currently in Saudi Arabia ahead of the event.
As noted, while appearing on ESPN Get Up on Wednesday morning, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque made it clear that there will be “a lot of surprises in store” at WWE Royal Rumble: Riyadh this weekend.
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(H/T: Fightful Select)
