WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown is over, but plenty of the company’s wrestlers aren’t going anywhere just yet. A massive nationwide flight shutdown has left several WWE Superstars stranded in Florida, and some may not be able to get home until Sunday.
The travel nightmare comes after the November 13 episode of WWE SmackDown, which took place at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. While the show went ahead without any issues from the shutdown, getting wrestlers out of Florida afterward has become a completely different story. Bryan Alvarez revealed on X on Saturday, November 14, that many of the wrestlers who appeared on SmackDown are now stuck dealing with the travel mess.
“Many of the wrestlers at Smackdown are stranded until likely Sunday.”
The problems started Friday afternoon when the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights across the United States at 3:54 PM ET because of a nationwide air traffic control communications failure. The shutdown lasted more than four hours before the FAA finally lifted the order at 8:15 PM ET, but the damage was already done. Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed, leaving airlines scrambling to get their schedules back on track.
As Ringside News previously covered, the FAA reopening the skies didn’t mean everyone could immediately get back in the air. WWE isn’t the only wrestling company caught in the mess, either. AEW wrestlers were also stranded ahead of Full Gear on November 14, while TNA faced travel concerns heading into Destination X on November 15.
WWE’s NXT roster managed to avoid the worst of the situation. The crew arrived in Cleveland, Ohio, before flights were grounded on Friday, allowing that night’s live event to go ahead. The NXT tour continues Saturday in Detroit, Michigan, before heading to Chicago, Illinois, on Sunday.
For the SmackDown roster, however, the weekend has turned into an unexpected extended stay in Florida. There’s no word on exactly which wrestlers are stranded, but with some not expected to get out until Sunday, WWE’s travel plans have taken a serious hit even after the nationwide shutdown ended.
What do you think about WWE wrestlers being stranded in Florida because of the nationwide flight shutdown, and how should the company handle travel problems like this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
