As expected, WWE announced today that WrestleMania 43 will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2027. This marks the first time that the Showcase of the Immortals has been held outside of the United States.
WrestleMania often attracts a big international audience, as well as wrestling fans from all 50 states. Whether those fans will travel to Saudi Arabia remains to be seen, but in recent years, the Saudi crowd has gone from being among the most reserved to being very loud and extremely passionate.
Regardless, the response from many fans on social media has been mixed, and it seems obvious that the motivating factor for TKO and WWE here is money. Needless to say, we're expecting ticket prices to be astronomical.
Saudi Arabia now has two of WWE's four big PLEs booked in, as the Royal Rumble hails from the country on January 31, 2026.
Here's the full press release announcing the news:
WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings, in partnership with The General Entertainment Authority (GEA), on behalf of HE Turki Alalshikh, today announced that Riyadh Season will host WrestleMania 43 in 2027 in Riyadh, marking the first time that the cultural phenomenon will be staged outside of North America.
In a statement, HE Turki Alalshikh said: "WrestleMania is already the biggest date on the wrestling calendar and this announcement marks a significant moment in our partnership with WWE. We deeply respect the legacy of WrestleMania and the global prestige it holds among wrestling fans around the world. As part of Riyadh Season in 2027, our vision is to elevate this iconic event to unprecedented heights and deliver a WrestleMania unlike anything the world has ever seen."
"HE Turki Alalshikh and GEA have made a massive impact on the world of sports and entertainment. They have been phenomenal partners to WWE and we look forward to working with them to bring WrestleMania 43 to new heights," said Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE Chief Content Officer.
The announcement of WrestleMania 43 coming to Riyadh in 2027 highlights the groundbreaking partnership between WWE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since beginning in 2018, this collaboration has delivered record-breaking events including Crown Jewel, Elimination Chamber, King & Queen of the Ring, Night of Champions, Friday Night SmackDown and Monday Night Raw. The 39th annual Royal Rumble will be held in Riyadh this January, broadcast live on ESPN platforms in the U.S. and Netflix globally.
WrestleMania is a week-long celebration comprising fan events, Friday Night SmackDown, Monday Night Raw, NXT and multiple community outreach initiatives designed to give back to the local region. Fans from more than 60 countries attend WrestleMania, which has generated more than $1.5 billion in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted the event over the last decade.
The announcement follows a historic WrestleMania 41 this past April in Las Vegas, which became the most successful and highest-grossing event in WWE history.