Hiy… waitwaitwait! Put down those pitchforks, angry mob! Let me try to explain.

Like most longtime WWE fans, I was, at the very least, miffed when they officially announced Wrestlemania 43 will be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When they did, everyone knew the WWE didn’t do this for the fans. They did it because they got a big, fat check from the country to host the biggest night of wrestling over there. So, when the fans spontaneously chanted “you sold out” as they were making the announcement, that was actually pretty accurate.

Now, there are a lot of reasons why fans think having Wrestlemania in Saudi Arabia is a bad idea and not good for WWE fans. I could just have easily mentioned all of the things which were swirling in my head when they announced it. However, I do think there are already so many websites dedicate which have already done so. I’d probably just be repeating the majority of what they’ve said so that’s not going to be useful.

Instead, what I’m going to be doing here is the opposite. In the fairness of trying to be at least being open to the idea, I like to look at why this might actually be “what’s best for business” for the WWE despite the fanbase lashing out at the company right now.

First off, the aforementioned big, fat check they’re getting. You can bet Saudi Arabia didn’t just attach this to their current deal of the WWE hosting 2 of their yearly pay-per-views in the country. Rather, they had to make a completely new deal just to get Wrestlemania, which I’m going to be assuming will also be held for 2 nights. From a tweet made by Cultaholic Wrestling, the entire deal, which also includes a RAW and Smackdown show, will net the WWE around a whopping $100 million for that entire week. Now, will it be worth it if they alienate a majority of the fanbase? Guess we’ll find out in a couple of years.

Still, the idea that a company can cash a check for $100 million for doing a week’s worth of work is pretty insane! That’s the budget for a big Hollywood blockbuster, which takes months to complete! At most, the WWE will have to get their people to work for a month ahead of the RAW, Smackdown and Wrestlemania shows to get things set up.

That seems insane to me and, despite fans getting the short end of the stick here, it makes sense, especially since this is sure money. The deal has already been finalized so they are getting that big, fat check and they won’t have to sweat out how they’re supposed to earn that amount of money. After all, even though I’ve been calling them “pay-per-views” because that’s how I knew them growing up, no one really has to pay to watch them any more thanks to the various streaming services the WWE is on. There is no extra charge for them, even for a show as big as Wrestlemania. So, despite producing these big shows, this is still baked into the deal the WWE has made with those streaming services. They don’t actually earn more money by producing them so ticket prices and the various live-event activities from people going to see these “pay-per-views” live in the arena is where they have to make that extra cash.

Although Wrestlemania is their biggest show and already makes them millions, it’s not a sure thing. You have to remember not all Wrestlemanias can earn the WWE truckloads of cash from things like ticket sales. Worldwide events can happen which can derail plans, such as what happened at Wrestlemania 36 and Wrestlemania 37. If you know, you know.

I also guess this is more relevant nowadays because of what’s happening in America right now. Once again, if you know, you know. Suffice to say, international fans haven’t exactly been flocking to the United States in recent times and it doesn’t really seem as if the situation is going to be changing in the near future. So, once again, despite it being the biggest night in professional wrestling, the WWE is probably worried they won’t see an influx of international fans fly in to go see it like they would’ve in years past. This means less ticket sales for, not only Wrestlemania, but for the Smackdown before Wrestlemania and the RAW after Wrestlemania.

They probably don’t like the idea of having to hide empty seats, especially in what’s supposed to be their biggest night of the year. So, rather than risk the situation not changing in the next couple of years, they opted to play it safe and let the Saudi Arabia people pack the stadium for both nights of Wretlemania. Now, based on the reaction, I don’t think there will be a lot of WWE fans who are planning to buy a ticket to the Saudi Arabia Wrestlemania show. However, I don’t really think we’ll be seeing any empty seats as, if you look at the WWE’s previous shows in the country, they seem to be able to fill the stadium to the brim with people. Not sure how they do that but it’s still good optics.

While it does seem like the WWE made this deal out of greed (and they did), I can’t exactly fault them for doing this. Like I said, they are getting a big, fat paycheck for, at the most, a month of work and they don’t have to worry about things like future ticket sales as they are getting that money whether or not they pack the arena with a huge live crowd. While I don’t like the deal, I can’t deny it’s a good moneymaking deal and, if you think of it that way, that is indeed what’s good for business.

Now, despite all of this, this still does feel like a slap in the face for longtime fans, especially when New Orleans was supposed to be hosting Wrestlemania 42 before Saudi Arabia rush in with their big bag of cash. Unfortunately, money talks and money talks big. Boo!

Byee!

What are your thoughts on the WWE switching plans and holding Wrestlemania is Saudi Arabia? Let me know in the comments section below!