WWE's Nick Khan Discusses Bringing WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia in 2027

Khan spoke about how, if WWE wants to be a global product, it needs to travel. He called the news about WrestleMania being in Saudi Arabia in 2027 a “natural step.” Khan pointed out that, over the last few years, approximately half of the PLEs have taken place outside the United States. He said:

“It was a natural next step for us. In WWE, we realized a number of years ago that we can’t simply pipe American product out globally and hope to be a global product. You actually have to have boots on the ground. If you look at what we’ve done with our Premium Live Events over the last few years, about half of those now take place outside of the United States. We’re excited.” (h/t: WrestlePurists)

WWE’s latest PLE, Crown Jewel, was outside of North America. The event took place in Perth, RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. It was actually the first Crown Jewel event not to take place in Saudi Arabia. The PLE began in 2018.

Nick Khan Believes Fans Will Travel To Saudi Arabia

Khan isn’t afraid that the location of WrestleMania 43, being in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will keep fans from showing up. He is adamant that people will travel and viewership will be strong, too. Actually, the next Royal Rumble is set for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Another first for the company. The PLE will be on January 31, 2026. He said:

“We think viewership is going to be strong. We think people will come to the Kingdom to see our show and we’re going to put on a spectacle. WWE had received a number of different offers from entities outside of the US, and to me, as I try to help lead the company, it’s all about relationships… When Turki expressed interest in having it here, we got together for a couple of different meetings, worked out the deal in short order, and had the good fortune of announcing it the day before Canelo-Crawford, our first fight together in Las Vegas.”

So the WWE President is confident in the way that the company is going, despite backlash on social media. It's not so much the event being outside of North America for the first time, but the controversial location due to the Kingdom's human rights record. Though Khan is doubling down on WrestleMania 43’s location. Anyway, for now, we have to get to WrestleMania 42 first.