Booker T Says WWE Holding Wrestlemania 43 in Saudi Arabia…
Booker T used his Hall of Fame podcast on Sept. 15 to weigh in on WWE’s next giant swing: taking WrestleMania overseas.
Early in the show, the hosts flagged the headline development — “Wrestlemania 43 is going to be going to Saudi Arabia,” they said, setting up a broader conversation about what that means for the wider wrestling economy.
They also laid out the scale: the 2026 Royal Rumble is slated for Saudi Arabia, and the first WrestleMania outside North America is planned for Riyadh in 2027 — a two-night production rumored at “$250 million” according to Paradigm Talent Agency. The budget, they noted, is “the equivalent of an Avengers movie.”
From there, the conversation turned to ripple effects. WrestleCon — the indie convention that typically rides WrestleMania week — could get kneecapped.
“That’s what a lot of guys are really ticked off about…WrestleCon is going to be preempted for two big shows,” the hosts said, acknowledging “a lot of upset people out there right now.” Booker T understood the frustration while underscoring the business math: “It is about dollars and cents at the end of the day…being able to create a lot of revenue to pay these guys.”
He also spoke plainly about the business call any promoter faces at that scale. “For the people that’s upset…I understand their gripe, but as a businessman, I ask: What will you do? I got to pick up a check…and how am I going to pay this talent, this overhead?”
The hosts floated a possible opening for AEW—run a domestic tentpole the same evening if WrestleMania airs earlier from Riyadh—to soak up North American fans “who may not want to make the trip.” Booker pumped the brakes on that idea: “From a business perspective, that may sound good, but if it flops, you’ll have egg all over your face…big bank takes little bank.”
The tension Booker T surfaced is bigger than one weekend. A two-night, mega-budget WrestleMania in Saudi Arabia could supercharge WWE’s bottom line while starving the stateside indie ecosystem that typically thrives around Mania week.