As noted, WWE held a breaking news announcement live stream on Friday afternoon from Las Vegas, Nevada, officially announcing WrestleMania 43 will take place in Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season in 2027.
In an update, apparently John “Big” Gaburick played a key role in WWE securing WrestleMania 43 for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2027. Gaburick, who serves as WWE’s liaison to Saudi Arabia and spends much of the year overseas, was said to be instrumental in helping finalize the deal. Many longtime fans of WWE remember Gaburick from the inaugural season of WWE Tough Enough.
As noted earlier this week, there had been industry rumors of the 2027 WrestleMania being split between Saudi Arabia and Nashville, Tennessee. However, we’ve since learned that talk was inaccurate, as the entire event will be staged in Riyadh.
We’re told WWE is receiving what was described as a “mind-blowing” amount of money for WrestleMania 43. No official date for the show has been confirmed as of this writing.
Rumors of The Rock being offered the highest money deal in pro wrestling history to return for a match against Cody Rhodes or Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 43 in 2027 is said to be false, according to one source, disputing previous reports from another source shared earlier today.
For what it’s worth, WrestleVotes, who have an unbelievably strong track record of breaking news related to WWE, shared a video of The Rock and Roman Reigns almost immediately after today’s WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia announcement.
However, the clip is of Cody Rhodes saying, “This right here is bullsh*t,” which could be taken a couple of ways. First, that WWE is going with Rock vs. Reigns instead of Rock vs. Cody. Second, it could be addressing rumors of The Rock returning altogether, agreeing with the above source who stated they have heard nothing about the rumored Rock/WrestleMania deal being “nearly finalized.”
People within the company believe that WrestleMania week in 2027 will include the usual supporting events such as Raw, SmackDown, and the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in Riyadh. There’s no word yet on whether NXT will be involved, but sources noted plans are still in the early stages.
The official YouTube announcement for the event has already drawn over 12,000 dislikes, signaling that WWE may have some work ahead in addressing fan backlash over the move.
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingHeadlines.com in 2027 for the best WWE WrestleMania 43 Riyadh live results coverage on the web!
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— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) September 12, 2025
(H/T: PWInsider.com and Fightful Select)
