Riyadh: As Roman Reigns and Liv Morgan celebrated their respective Royal Rumble wins in Riyadh, attention was already turning to this year’s road to WWE’s WrestleMania.
The night of drama in the Saudi capital was historic for Saudi Arabia in various ways. For the first time in WWE history The Royal Rumble was part of Riyadh Season, and is the first “Big Five” WWE show to be staged outside North America, taking place in the newly built KAFD Arena.
Traditionally, the Royal Rumble has always been considered as the first stop on the road to WrestleMania, the WWE’s flagship live event.
Saudi Arabia is also scheduled to host the first WrestleMania to be held outside North America, in Saudi Arabia in 2027.
WWE has also signed its first heavyweight wrestler from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Fahd Tuwaiq. The new signee is very proud to be part of WWE and to represent Saudi Arabia in the roster. He said: “I am truly proud to be part of this company and my government’s support for me as always.”
Tuwaiq, who grew up an Undertaker fan, told Arab News that the legendary hall of famer’s career is what inspired him to get into sports entertainment. He also said that fans should keep an eye out what he has planned for his future opponents in WWE and to have faith in him moving forward. He concluded that he is ready to make his country proud in the WWE.
Saturday’s action kicked off with the women’s Royal Rumble match as Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss made their entrance.
The second match in the evening was the highly anticipated encounter between The Ring General Guther and The Phenomenal One AJ Styles, a showdown in which the latter’s wrestling career was on the line. The two kept the fans off their seats and on their feet with clear support from Saudi fans for Styles. However, it was Gunther who ended the bout with a submission hold, redeeming his previous submission loss to Styles.
Another highly anticipated match was the WWE Championship bout between champion Drew McIntyre and Syrian Canadian star Sami Zayn. Fans in the KAFD Arena backed Zayn with a traditional chant of support usually heard during football matches in Saudi Arabia. The support of local fans, however, was not enough for Zayn to dethrone the champion, who retained his title.
After his win McIntyre told Arab News that the fans here deserve this kind of WWE action due to their passion and energy.
“You can’t call this (Royal Rumble) a test run, this is huge, this is a moment. The Rumble match is going on and I couldn’t care less who wins,” McIntyre said, confident of his chances of winning against any challenger in WrestleMania 42 scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in April.
