Wrestlemania is going Saudi!

WWE just announced its intention to host Wrestlemania 2027 in Saudi Arabia.

The decision has attracted frustration and apathy in equal measure: frustration because a section of WWE’s fanbase continues to oppose the company’s association with Saudi Arabia, and apathy because many WWE fans could not care less about the brand’s political controversies.

They watch WWE for its entertainment value. They don’t care about the moral and ethical considerations involved. We can trace the WWE/ Saudi Arabia partnership to 2018. After hosting a series of non-televized house shows in the country, dating as far back as the 1980s, WWE eventually announced a ten-year partnership with Saudi Arabia, starting with the Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018.

WWE’s Crown Jewel in Riyadh has since become a regular event, netting the company tens of millions of dollars annually. You could argue that WWE’s critics are a vocal minority.

But that vocal minority has persisted, and depending on how global politics evolve in the coming years, they may grow into an avalanche of negative publicity with the potential to destroy WWE’s fortunes. But who can blame WWE for courting that risk?

The 10-year partnership they signed in 2018 was worth an estimated $500 million. Additionally, the company is expected to earn a whopping $100 million by holding Wrestlemania 2027 in Saudi Arabia. Does anyone expect WWE to walk away from that kind of money? The backlash surrounding the WWE/Saudi Arabia partnership is rooted in Saudi Arabia’s appalling Human Rights record.

Female athletes could not even wrestle in the first batch of WWE live events because Saudi Arabia’s legal system is based on Sharia law, and it would not permit women to attend WWE shows, let alone wrestle on them.

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman finally intervened years later, relaxing the laws preventing women from attending public events. But even then, women could only attend WWE PLEs with a male guardian.

You have obviously seen female wrestlers on Saudi Arabian WWE shows in recent years, but those full-body suits they wear are not a choice. They are forbidden from exposing their skin to the masses, precluding their faces.

That said, WWE has hailed the presence of women on its shows as a sign of progress. They argue that boycotting countries like Saudi Arabia for their Human Rights failures achieves nothing.

If anything, the isolation entrenches these countries in their wrong beliefs. On the other hand, bringing shows such as Wrestlemania to Saudi Arabia exposes its people to the wider world, showing them what they could become if they could only shed their traditional belief systems.

Critics believe that Saudi Arabia is using WWE to transform its image on the world stage without altering its stance on human rights. The practice is called Sportswashing, and Saudi Arabia has not restricted this tactic to WWE.

Just look at some of their investments over the years, from buying Newcastle United to hosting the Dakar Rally, bringing Formula One to Jeddah, luring top PGA players to their LIV Golf tour, hosting the ‘Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou’ fight, and more. FIFA has already selected them as the 2034 Men’s World Cup host.

The money WWE receives directly from Saudi Arabia gives the company a certain amount of independence. They don’t have to rely on ticket sales as much to meet their financial targets, not when they have guaranteed paychecks from Saudi Arabia.

In other words, they are not incentivized to keep their audience happy. Secondly, that apathy is quite strong. Most WWE viewers watch the product for the action in the ring. The behind-the-scenes drama does not matter to them. Therefore, we should expect more Wrestlemanias in Saudi Arabia. Don’t be surprised if Saudi Arabia buys WWE outright at some point in the future.

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