Unsurprisingly, WWE fans are not thrilled about the company taking a huge amount of money to bring WrestleMania 43 to Saudi Arabia in 2027, and they are letting their unhappiness be known.
On Friday, the rumors became a reality, and the company officially announced plans to bring WrestleMania to The Kingdom in two years. It was a new chapter in the very lucrative relationship between the country and WWE. Furthermore, it will be historic in being the first time the massive event happens outside North America.
It has been well established that WWE receives tens of millions of dollars for events in Saudi Arabia each year. Following the news about WrestleMania 43, PW Insider’s Mike Johnson reported the company is getting a “mindblowing” amount to do the event in Riyadh. Rumors suggest it could be north of $200 million.
WrestleMania being taken out of North America will rub many the wrong way. But the first outside the continent, not being in places like France or England — which have huge WWE fan bases — further proves the company’s decision was a pure money grab. And that is bothering the promotion’s devoted fanbase.
WWE fans push back against WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia
For WWE’s livestream of the WrestleMania 43 press conference, the comments section was filled with negative thoughts on the news, “you sold out” remarks, and the video reportedly has over 32,000 dislikes. That wasn’t the only place where WWE fans let it be known they felt the company sold out.
During Friday’s AAA/WWE Worlds Collide event, when a video was shown hyping the 2027 event, fans at the arena in Las Vegas started a “you sold out” chant. The situation is similar to something that happened two years ago, when fans rejected The Rock getting the Night 2 main event spot instead of Cody Rhodes.
Before WrestleMania 40 in 2023, it was revealed that Rhodes would not challenge Roman Reigns after winning the Royal Rumble, so The Rock could instead challenge for his title at the event. That was loudly rejected by fans in the weeks ahead during WWE TV and with dislikes on videos. It led to a huge pivot in the storytelling with The Rock turning heel and Rhodes facing Reigns in the Night 2 main event.
With so much money involved, no amount of fan hate, unfortunately, will be able to change this decision.
