Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority Chairman Turki Al-Sheikh spoke last year about wanting WWE to hold a Royal Rumble or WrestleMania in the Kingdom. Now it seems Al-Sheikh, who’s become arguably the most important figure in the combat sports world, will get both.
Royal Rumble is already set for Riyadh next January. Now, both His Excellency and WWE seem to have accidentally let slip that WrestleMania
will take place in Saudi Arabia the following year.
In a since-deleted Snapchat that was making the round this afternoon (Sept. 10), Al-Sheikh said WrestleMania 43 will be the first-ever outside of the United States or Canada:
“We are announcing that for the first time, WrestleMania will take place outside America. WrestleMania will be coming to Saudi Arabia in 2027.”
PWInsider also reported that a press release went out in Arabic about WrestleMania 43 and Al-Sheikh’s announcement, but was quickly pulled. Following up with his sources at WWE. Insider’s Mike Johnson confirmed “the story is 100% legitimate and an announcement is coming very soon, bringing WrestleMania to an international location outside of North American for the first time ever”
WrestleMania 42 will be held in Las Vegas for the second straight year. WWE entered into a partnership with the Saudi GEA in 2018. To date, Wrestlenomics has calculated the company’s received $50 million per premium live event from the Saudis under a deal they entered into in 2018. It’s not confirmed that next year’s Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 43 will bring more that that into the WWE/TKO coffers, but we wouldn’t be surprised.
There had been rumors that a Saudi ‘Mania could be branded a “Super WrestleMania”, raising hopes it wouldn’t be the “official” WrestleMania for the year. So we guess it’s still possible that what Al-Sheikh’s team accidentally told us about today will turn out to be like 2018’s Greatest Royal Rumble.
We’ll let you know when we know more, and when the official announcement happens.
