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WWE Confirms Date For 2026 Royal Rumble In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

WWE has announced the date for the 2026 Royal Rumble which will be hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ethan Schlabaugh|
WWE

The ten-year agreement that WWE and Saudi Arabia created back in 2018 is still going strong and has just seen the announcement of WrestleMania 43 being hosted in the country, the first ever outside of North America.

The Royal Rumble was confirmed to be doing the same, as it is being hosted in Riyadh for the 2026 event, marking the first time a traditional Royal Rumble has been hosted outside of North America.

During the WrestleMania 43 press conference, the official date for the 2026 event was confirmed, airing on January 31st, 2026. This will see the Royal Rumble return to its typical January slot, as the event was held in early February this year.

The Royal Rumble and WrestleMania now join the likes of Elimination Chamber, Night of Champions, Crown Jewel, and more as PLEs hosted in Saudi Arabia.

Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, previously stated last year that they were hoping to get WrestleMania or the Rumble to Saudi Arabia, specifically stating a deal could happen around 2026/2027.

More Events In Saudi Arabia

WWE WrestleMania 43
WWE.com

The deal between Saudi Arabia and WWE has seemingly been quite beneficial to both parties as bigger and bigger events are now being hosted in the country.

The most recent event held there, Night of Champions 2025, saw an attendance of 25,000 in the Kingdom Arena, which was higher than Crown Jewel 2024 which had 20,000 in attendance.

While nothing of the sort has been officially talked about by either Saudi Arabia or the WWE, it wouldn't be shocking to see more major events start going to Riyadh in the future. Events like SummerSlam, Money in the Bank, or Wrestlepalooza (since WWE wants to make that as big as SummerSlam or WrestleMania) could be next in line.

Fan Reception Of Saudi Arabia Shows

The reception online from fans has not been the greatest for the announcement of WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble going to Saudi Arabia. Since it is the first time either event has left North America, many believed that such an honor should have gone to the United Kingdom oe elsewhere in Europe.

While that could still happen in the future at some point, WrestleMania in London is going to have to wait quite some time before that comes to fruition.

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Published
Ethan Schlabaugh
ETHAN SCHLABAUGH

Ethan Schlabaugh is a news writer for The Takedown on SI. His journalism experience has seen him cover professional wrestling for outlets such as TheSportster, The Takedown and more. He has been a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, dating back to his first experience with the WCW Nintendo 64 games, and that passion for the sport has remained many years later. He also writes feature articles for ResuraMag, where he focuses on mainstream Japanese promotions like Stardom and Marigold.

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