Amid the continued controversy regarding the delays that prevented most of the WWE roster from returning home after Thursday’s Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, new reports have detailed how Seth Rollins addressed the fallout from the event during a backstage meeting ahead of this week’s Monday Night Raw taping. As these reports claim, the former Universal Champion didn’t appear to condone the spate of social media complaints that emerged soon after his previously stranded colleagues arrived back home in the United States over the weekend.
As recapped by WrestlingNews.co , a Reddit user with the handle ToyStorySix was the first to report on the meeting, noting that WWE’s talent relations team discussed the myriad rumors surrounding the company’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia. These included the allegations that WWE owner and chairman Vince McMahon had an argument with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, which the company reportedly debunked, and the claim that the flight delays were on account of mechanical issues, which were purportedly stressed to be true.
Further citing ToyStorySix, WrestlingNews.co wrote that WWE seemed to blame its wrestlers for taking to social media, talking about the issues that followed Crown Jewel , and complaining about them.
Talking about Rollins’ involvement in the meeting, the Reddit user claimed that the Monday Night Raw star gave a speech in an attempt to unify his coworkers backstage, one that unfortunately came about as “awkward.” As further alleged, Rollins told his fellow wrestlers that they shouldn’t be going on social media to air their grievances with WWE or speculate about certain situations.
“The feeling among some people was that Rollins was forced into a position that he was not comfortable with,” wrote WrestlingNews.co.
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While the outlet added that Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter described Rollins’ backstage pep talk as a “rah-rah” speech, it didn’t seem to help matters or improve morale among WWE’s performers. At the moment, many WWE superstars reportedly feel “burned out” after Crown Jewel, while also feeling as if Monday’s backstage meeting didn’t really resolve things.
The news on Rollins’ locker room speech came shortly after it was reported that fellow Monday Night Raw superstar AJ Styles offered a real-time account of what took place in Saudi Arabia after Crown Jewel. As reported by The Inquisitr , Styles also emphasized in his Mixer livestream that his coworkers’ flight back to the U.S. was really delayed due to mechanical problems, adding that while he was upset over a few things, he wouldn’t say anything bad about WWE.