Update on WWE WrestleMania in Saudi Arabia
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer shared the latest on WWE WrestleMania coming to Saudi Arabia.
News broke last night that Saudi Arabia will host WrestleMania in 2027. An official announcement from WWE has not been made yet, but Meltzer reports that he first heard last month that it was “for sure” that Saudi Arabia would be getting WrestleMania. At that time, there were rumors that there could potentially be two WrestleManias in 2027 with the United States and Saudi Arabia each hosting one. But Meltzer presumes WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia will be the only WrestleMania that year.
Meltzer notes that Saudi official Turki Alalshikh — the Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority — is the key person behind this, and Saudi Arabia is putting up “a ridiculous amount of money” to get the event.
“They’re putting up an incredible amount of money — a ridiculous amount of money,” Meltzer said. “And the idea is to present the most star-studded show ever, you know, by far. Everyone, anyone, money is no object. Any name you can imagine, obviously they’re going to be after. I presume it’s the only WrestleMania of that year, but when I first heard — one of the ideas was to do a two WrestleMania year one year so that way it keeps the American fans not upset about Saudi Arabia. But I think perhaps the deal is also that as Saudi Arabia has become more and more normalized, it appears that the outrage that probably would’ve been there even a year ago or two years ago, probably won’t be. I hardly saw any today, but we’ll see.”
Meltzer said that, because WWE had other commitments, they originally wanted 2028 to be the year for the Saudi WrestleMania event. It ended up being 2027 because that’s what Saudi Arabia pushed for, with that year marking a celebration of the 300th anniversary of the first Saudi state being formed.
The controversial WWE-Saudi Arabia business relationship began in 2018 and continues to grow. As was announced earlier this year, Saudi Arabia will host the Royal Rumble in January 2026. WrestleMania 42 will then be held in Las Vegas a few months later.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.