Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves for a potential seismic shift in the world of sports entertainment! Saudi Arabia is reportedly in talks to host not one, but two of WWE’s most colossal events—WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble—in the near future. Turki Alalshikh, the head honcho of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA), recently spilled the beans on the timeline during an interview with “The MMA Hour.”
“We are talking in the future about WrestleMania and Royal Rumble [in Saudi Arabia],” Alalshikh revealed. “We are talking around [20]26 or [20]27.”
This is not the first time WWE and Saudi Arabia have danced this tango. Back in 2018, the two parties signed a 10-year “strategic multiplatform partnership,” which later expanded to include two major events per year in the Kingdom. This partnership has already birthed epic events like the Greatest Royal Rumble, Super ShowDown, Night of Champions 2023, Elimination Chamber 2022, and the recurring Crown Jewel extravaganza.
Mark Shapiro, President of Endeavor and TKO Group Holdings, weighed in on the expansion of this partnership. He mentioned that while WWE doesn’t plan to hold more than two premium live events per year in Saudi Arabia, there’s chatter about “festivalizing” these shows to elevate their grandeur. However, he neither confirmed nor denied the specific prospect of WrestleMania or the Royal Rumble being among those events.
As the negotiations unfold, WWE fans can look forward to another high-profile event in Saudi Arabia, with the King and Queen of the Ring PLE set to take place in Jeddah on May 25. So, keep your eyes peeled and your calendars marked—WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble might just be heading to Saudi Arabia, turning the wrestling world on its head!