Will Bloodsport be in Saudi Arabia?
We'll be just a couple of weeks removed from the blockbuster announcement of WrestleMania 43 taking place in Saudi Arabia in 2027. The controversial decision has notably received some backlash, but WWE is still continuing forward with their plans unless it changes otherwise.
That will be the first WrestleMania to be held outside of the U.S. What is even more interesting is the circumstances surrounding WrestleMania weekend. Usually, indie shows will have a special event taking place during the same weekend of the biggest show in wrestling. However, with the news that WrestleMania will not be hosted in America, it’s quite possible that most indie events won’t follow suit.
But it’s also possible that some independent shows could make their way over to Saudi Arabia for the weekend. Maybe Bloodsport Saudi Arabia is in the future. Josh Barnett talked to Muscle Man Malcolm about the possibility of Bloodsport heading into Saudi Arabia and he definitely didn’t rule it out.
“Look, I know that there is a controversial environmental around Saudi Arabia and pro wrestling and the companies going back and forth from there. I honestly doesn’t participate in any of that because I see the arguments and they’re not hard for me to understand, but ultimately, my opinion is wherever I go and whatever I do, I always do things with sincerity and I believe that I am a force for bringing the world more together than apart.
While it’s not my duty or even necessarily my interest to try and use pro wrestling or whatever avenue I may be associated with to create universal peace and harmony in the world, I’m not taking that on as my responsibility but what I can do is bring something that is sincere, authentic, and really — what it does with something, let’s say in this case Bloodsport or if I was to bring an MMA event there or whatever, there’s more about this that is understood by everyone than less.
We’re more alike in this degree. My hope would be that by coming down there, let’s say in this case with Bloodsport, we could do something to motivate or bring an approach that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Maybe from there, in time, we might see things change in a manner that is more suitable to those that are against the way they do things down there. I also sit back and try to not be — I don’t filter history through the lens of modernity and I don’t filter necessarily every other place in the world through mine. I realize that everywhere is going to be different, sometimes in small degrees and sometimes in great degrees. My job is not to go out there and tell the world how to exist, my job is to be an upright standing person who lives by his ethics and does for those what he says he’ll do.”
WrestleMania weekend is definitely going to be interesting in 2027. It wouldn’t be surprising if some promotions went to Saudi Arabia with WWE, though it’s unlikely that many will be able to.