10 Most Disgusting Promotional Tactics For WWE In Saudi Arabia

10. A ‘WrestleMania-Sized Show’

Based solely on the grandeur and promotion of the Saudi PLEs, one would be fooled into thinking they’re among some of the most significant events on WWE’s calendar.

And while the shows have evolved over time to become regular, in-universe events, they initially started out as glorified house shows taking place inside a stadium with all the bells and whistles, and enough pyro to make the largest U.S. Independence Day celebration look like a backyard sparkler show.

Michael Cole routinely told fans that these shows were “WrestleMania-sized,” boasting that it was a major happening. And while the first Saudi PLE (Greatest Royal Rumble) kicked off with John Cena versus Triple H and featured Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, nothing of true, lasting significance happened.

In fact, the early shows relied on part-timers and gimmick matches/tournaments to mask how uneventful they were. Several will be highlighted in due course, but others that missed the cut include a 51-man battle royal, Team Hogan versus Team Flair and the WWE Tag Team World Cup.

All of this was in service of overinflating the significance of these shows. If you fill a stadium, build a big enough stage, shoot off enough pyro and push enough big names into the ring, it has to be worth $50 million, right?