6 months ago
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Last week, reports indicated that Saudi Arabia was looking to enhance their current deal with WWE by bringing two of WWE's biggest events — WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble — to their country. Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, has now provided an update on the timeline for these potential plans.
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"We are talking in the future about WrestleMania and Royal Rumble [in Saudi Arabia]," Alalshikh recently told "The MMA Hour." "We are talking around [20]26 or [20]27."
WWE and the Saudi Arabian government initially inked a 10-year deal in 2018 that was described as a "strategic multiplatform partnership." The following year, WWE confirmed that this agreement had been expanded to include two large-scale Saudi Arabia-based events per year. Now in its sixth year, this deal between WWE and Saudi Arabia has brought forth events such as the Greatest Royal Rumble, Super ShowDown, 2023 Night of Champions, 2022 Elimination Chamber, and a five-year repeat of Crown Jewel.
Endeavor and TKO Group Holdings President Mark Shapiro recently addressed the idea of WWE expanding its aforementioned agreement, noting that he doesn't envision the company holding more than two premium live events in Saudi Arabia. WWE is, however, discussing the possibility of "festivalizing" its Saudi Arabia shows in an effort to further elevate them. The specific idea of slotting the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania as one of Saudi Arabia's two-yearly events was not confirmed, nor denied, at the time of Shapiro's comments.
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While negotiations between WWE and Saudi Arabia continue, WWE will notably return to the city of Jeddah for the King and Queen of the Ring PLE on May 25.
