Triple H announced WrestleMania 43 for Saudi Arabia.
WWE.com
Triple H announced WWE WrestleMania 43 will emanate from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2027. The announcement was made from a press conference in Las Vegas, home of WrestleMania 42. The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Stephanie Vaquer, Logan Paul and WWE world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins were all in attendance.
“This is an incredible day,” said Triple H. “Since 1985, WrestleMania has stood as the pinnacle for sports and entertainment and is one of the greatest sports franchises the world has ever seen.”
“Today, we are here to talk about what’s next for the legacy of WrestleMania. And to help us announce this, I want to welcome a dear friend. We are currently in our eighth year of a long-term and fruitful partnership with the General Entertainment Authority (GEA.) This partnership, guided by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, has seen historic firsts year after year as we work together to collectively reshape what’s possible in global entertainment.”
“For the first time, WrestleMania will be held outside of the United States and Canada. In 2027, we are proud to announce, that WrestleMania 43 will take place in Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season,” Triple H concluded alongside Alalshikh.
WWE has already announced the 2026 Royal Rumble for Saudi Arabia, and now its biggest event of the year will follow suit. Between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, these will be the two single-biggest one-night payoffs in WWE history.
WWE’s first event with Saudi Arabia as part of the Vision 2030 Deal came as part of the Greatest Royal Rumble. Mohammad Bin Salman, Saudi’s Crown Prince, a millennial wrestling fan, reportedly requested several WWE legends to be a part of the historic show.
Unfortunately, many of the legends requested had perished.
Could The Rock Headline WrestleMania 43 In Saudi Arabia?
For what it’s worth, semi-accurate, mistake-prone editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Dave Meltzer suggested Saudi Arabia wants similar nostalgic star power for WrestleMania 43, targeting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to headline the event.
“Those in Saudi Arabia close to the General Entertainment Authority, headed by Alalshikh, confirmed this week that the show is official and they claimed negotiations for Dwayne Johnson were advancing and they believed the deal was close to being finalized,” Meltzer wrote. “We have not been able to confirm any of this with those in WWE, which would be involved in the talks. The impression is that the final payment number for the show will be affected by whether or not they get The Rock in the main event.”
Johnson was recently seen weeping in the midst of a 15-minute standing ovation for his film Smashing Machine. The Mark Kerr biopic has emerged as an early darkhorse this Academy Awards season. The typically yolked Rock also made headlines for his significant weight loss. The good news, is if Rock really is a part of an all-hands-on-deck WrestleMania in Saudi Arabia, he’ll have two years to put the weight back on.
Once upon a time, the term “Saudi Arabia” struck fear and outrage into the heart of wrestling Twitter. At the height of Saudi toxicity, elected officials—known for their unwavering morals—publicly criticized and discouraged WWE for moving forward with Crown Jewel 2018 following the tragic murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Not only has WWE remained steadfast in its once-controversial relationship with Saudi Arabia, Saudi-America events have now become normalized.
Through Zuffa Boxing, Saudi Arabia is set to become the center of the boxing universe starting with a superfight this weekend between Canelo Alvarez and Terrance Crawford. The highly anticipated bout, promoted by Royal Court advisor Turki Alalshikh, will air on Netflix: the top streaming platform in America.
In hindsight, WWE was simply a guinea pig to see just how much blowback a pro wrestling promotion would get for working with Saudi Arabia. As the outrage died down, WWE’s bags blew up. Now everybody—from top standup comedians to pro golfers—is going to Saudi.