Chris Jericho has no plans to return to Saudi Arabia.
The current IWGP Intercontinental Champion has already stated that he won't be appearing at the Nov. 2 Crown Jewel event. His Nov. 3 commitment to New Japan put him out of the running to appear at Crown Jewel, but even if he didn't have a scheduled match against EVIL at Power Struggle, it doesn't sound like Jericho wants to go back to Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to Inside The Ropes, Jericho detailed his experience in Saudi Arabia when he was there in April for the Greatest Royal Rumble.
"Saudi Arabia is a very strange place," he began. "It was me Finlay, (Billy) Kidman, Jamie Noble, and Adam Pearce. Combined 200 years of experience. We just get dropped off at the terminal and we walk off like morons. We don't have a handler or security. People there are very touchy-feely. 'Selfie, selfie, selfie, selfie.' I'm not kidding. Everybody wants a selfie. Times that by 100 and you start to get angry. And we're surrounding by people. I start yelling, 'get the fuck out of my face.' And they're all coming for me because the agents are all legends, but I'm the only guy they know. It's like a zombie movie. I'm pushing through these people."
After making his way through the apocalypse, Jericho and crew made it to a help counter only to find out that they were at the wrong airport.
"We're looking for British Airways. We get to the Delta counter and are told, 'There is no British Airways here. Wrong airport. South airport.' Where is the south airport? It's 45 minutes away from the north airport," said Jericho. "We got dropped off at the wrong airport and like morons, instead of asking, 'is this the right one?' We get off like lemmings. Now we have to get to the right airport and there are no taxis in Jeddah. No one speaks English. We ask for a taxi and they take us to a rent-a-car place. I can't rent a car in Jeddah. We finally get some rent-a-car thing. We get to the south airport and now, these are first world problems, but there's no priority line or first-class line. It's one giant line for everybody on this flight. And there's 1,000 people or 500 people on this flight. We're at the back of the line."
Jericho continued, growing more angry as he recalled his experience. "I've been traveling for a long time. I don't need this shit. The money that I made, I started to think, 'This is not worth it. I don't want to come back here.' We finally check in. And the guy says, 'I know you, Greatest Royal Rumble. I'm going to give you a present.' I'm thinking he's going to upgrade me to first-class. No. He upgrades me from row 12 to row 10. Same class," said Jericho. "We go through another line of security and it's selfies the whole time. Finally, we get through customs. Usually, when you get through customs it's duty-free and restaurants and bars and lounges. You go through this place and it's nothing but a giant holding room with 10,000 people sitting there. We have an half and a half to kill and it's sweaty and hot. 'This is fucking terrible.'"
Jericho then explained that after waiting in the room, a bus took them down the runway to the plane. Jericho described the experience as "a video game where each level gets you closer to the airport, but you might die at each level."
After boarding the plane and taking his seat, Jericho wanted a drink, but was informed that he could not drink until they were an hour in the air. He counted down the time and ordered a triple vodka as soon as the hour was up.
He ended the story by saying, "That was Saudi Arabia for ya. Now that I know how much money they made, they're gonna have to pay me triple to come back."
Jericho won't be returning to Saudi Arabia as part of Crown Jewel, but WWE still plans to move forward with the event despite backlash from fans and reports that some talent is uncomfortable traveling to the country.
You can listen to the full interview with Jericho in the video above.
