New Details On Saudi Arabia Hosting WWE Royal Rumble

Could WWE's annual Royal Rumble PLE be heading to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

May 16, 2024 May 16th, 2024

Following recent reports that Saudia Arabia is looking to host a major WWE Premium Live Event such as WrestleMania or Royal Rumble, there's now an update on the Rumble specifically.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Turki Alalshikh - the Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority - was asked about the possibility of holding the 2025 Royal Rumble from the Kingdom. On that matter, Alalshikh noted how Saudi Sarabia is instead looking for either the 2026 or 2027 Rumble PLEs to be held there.

This comes on the back of comments from Alalshikh that Saudi Arabia's relationship with WWE has been "enhanced" and that a new deal between the two parties will be announced soon, with one aim being to bring a 'Mania or Rumble to Saudi.

While WWE shows had taken place in Saudi Arabia in previous years, a formal relationship was announced in 2018, with that year's Greatest Royal Rumble kicking off a ten-year, two-events-per-year deal worth a reported $50 million per show for WWE. That relationship has been heavily criticised over subsequent years due to, amongst other things, Saudi Arabia's human rights record and allegations of sports washing.

WWE returns to Saudi Arabia later this month with the 24 May episode of SmackDown and the following day's King and Queen of the Ring PLE.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

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