7 Early DISASTERS From WWE In Saudi Arabia

Sportswashing worked.

There’s no easier way to describe the reality that is WWE planning to hold WrestleMania 43 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia next spring, making it the first time the company’s signature event has emanated outside North America. What once would have been considered unthinkable is now just business as usual as the multi-billion-dollar sports entertainment empire chugs along, making decisions with only the bottom line in mind.

But the notion that WWE would hold a meaningful show in Saudi Arabia seemed far-fetched when they launched their partnership with the Kingdom nearly a decade ago. Those early Saudi shows were barely seen as canon – in fact, they were basically regarded as high-end house shows – with events that took place being ignored once the superstars reached American soil again.

It’s for good reason too that WWE disregarded much of what happened on those first few Saudi PLEs, which bordered on downright embarrassing. The controversial nature of the shows weren’t helped by Saudi officials reportedly asking for Yokozuna and the Ultimate Warrior to make appearances, which put WWE in the unenviable position of having to reanimate corpses to make their paymasters happy.

As WWE prepares for its latest PLE in Saudi Arabia, it’s worth reminding fans of just how horrendous and off-the-rails those early shows truly were. Let’s look back at some of those early disasters that defined WWE’s presence in the kingdom. Reflecting on these, it’s somewhat shocking that the company continued down this path – until you realize that said path was lined with hundreds of millions of dollars.

Let’s get to it…

It cannot be overstated how godawful late 2010s WWE truly was. The first few WWE Saudi PLEs exemplified the haphazard, gimmicky and borderline desperate nature of the booking during that time.

Witness Cain Velasquez, the man who defeated Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 2010, arriving in WWE in late 2019 to rescue Rey Mysterio and his then-non-wrestling son Dominik from The Beast. Despite having never wrestled in WWE, Cain was granted a WWE Championship match against Brock at Crown Jewel.

The match itself lasted less time than the entrances, with Lesnar shaking off a head kick and submitting Velasquez with a kimura in two minutes. Then, just to add insult to injury, Brock attacked Rey after the bell, dropped Cain with an F-5 on a chair, and finally retreated when Mysterio wielded a chair to chase him off.

This never went anywhere, as Velasquez didn’t appear for WWE again before being released during the pandemic-era roster cuts. It was a circus match designed to generate headlines, and nothing else – and it showed.