Saudi Arabia Making Play For WWE WrestleMania
Saudi Arabia is hoping to host WWE’s biggest events as part of an “enhancement” to its current deal.
Over the past year, WWE has been hosting more events overseas than ever before. Elimination Chamber was held in Australia, Backlash in France, and later in the year the promotion will hold Clash at the Castle in Scotland, while Germany will see the first-ever Bash in Berlin in August.
However, WWE’s most lucrative overseas partnership remains with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The company has a ten-year deal with the country’s General Entertainment Authority that will see it continue to host annual stadium shows until 2027.
Now, ESPN’s Mike Coppinger has reported that the Kingdom is set to announce an “enhancement” to that deal. Speaking to ESPN, Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the GEA, said that, as part of this enhancement, he is hoping to bring the Royal Rumble, or even WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia.
The next event to be held in the country is King & Queen of the Ring, which will take place on May 25th. The two titular tournaments will see fields of 16 men and women from Raw and SmackDown vying to be crowned the new monarchs of WWE at the event.
.@Turki_alalshikh tells ESPN an enhancement to Saudi Arabia's existing agreement with WWE will be announced later this month. Specifically, Alalshikh is looking to bring January's annual Royal Rumble or WWE's top event, WrestleMania, to Saudi Arabia.
Since 2018, WWE has held at… https://t.co/cU5A7lTUst
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) May 8, 2024
Drew McIntyre & Asuka Pulled From WWE King & Queen Of The Ring
The tournaments have already got off to a rocky start as hours before Raw, Drew McIntyre was pulled from the King of the Ring due to injury. His replacement in the first round was Jey Uso, who defeated Finn Balor to progress in the tournament.
Multi-time Women’s Champion Asuka has also suffered an injury, leaving her in a similar situation to McIntyre. Her replacement was fellow Damage CTRL member Dakota Kai who was knocked out of the tournament at the first hurdle by Lyra Valkyria.