Saudi Arabia Giving WWE “Incredible Amount Of Money” For WrestleMania

WWE is taking WrestleMania out of North America for the first time, and Saudi Arabia has paid a “ridiculous” amount of money to make it happen.

On September 10th, a video appeared on Snapchat showing the Chairman of the Saudi Arabia Entertainment Authority, Turki Al-Sheikh, announcing that WrestleMania 43 would be held in Saudi Arabia.

While WWE has not officially confirmed the news, Mike Johnson of PWInsider soon reported that it was genuine, noting that a press release was also sent out in Arabic, but it was soon pulled, likely having been released early accidentally. According to Johnson, an announcement will be made “very soon.”

“The Idea Is To Present The Most Star-Studded Show Ever” – Dave Meltzer On WWE WrestleMania In Saudi Arabia

Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer has since reported that the deal to bring WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia is worth an eye-watering $100 million.

On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer claimed that WWE will be trying to book every major name it can for the show.

“They’re putting up an incredible amount of money — a ridiculous amount of money. And the idea is to present the most star-studded show ever, you know, by far.

“Everyone, anyone, money is no object. Any name you can imagine, obviously they’re going to be after. I presume it’s the only WrestleMania of that year, but when I first heard — one of the ideas was to do a two WrestleMania year one year so that way it keeps the American fans not upset about Saudi Arabia.”

However, things appear to have changed, as there has been less of an outcry than might have been expected at holding WWE’s flagship event in the highly controversial Kingdom.

“But I think perhaps the deal is also that as Saudi Arabia has become more and more normalized, it appears that the outrage that probably would’ve been there even a year ago or two years ago, probably won’t be. I hardly saw any today, but we’ll see.”

Do you want to see WrestleMania 43 head to Saudi Arabia? Or would another international location have been a better choice? Let us know your thoughts below!

H/T to F4WOnline for the above transcription.