It was announced on the Netflix debut of Raw that the WWE Royal Rumble will be held outside of the United States for the first time, with the January 2026 Royal Rumble host to be the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This is currently the 8th event to have scheduled to take place since 2018, with the city hosting the annual “Crown Jewel” event. It’s not the first time that Saudi Arabia have held a “Royal Rumble” event, with the unsure-if-canon “Greatest Royal Rumble” taking place in the country in 2018 in the country – the first major event to take place in the kingdom. Braun Strowman was the winner of that event last eliminating Big Cass to win the event. Hindsight of the event has been mixed, with little to no consequences once the event was over.
There is expected to be both Royal Rumbles at the event, as in their press release WWE confirmed both the men’s and women’s events would take place at the event.
At the time of writing, there isn’t any local interest, with Saudi Arabian wrestler Mansoor being released from his WWE Contract in 2023, and currently with AEW.
As a Brit: I’m happy for me to be able to watch the Royal Rumble live. Granted I’d prefer it in a country that wasn’t Saudi Arabia, particularly in Western Europe (you’ve seen what the crowds have been like! Give us a Royal Rumble).
What do you think about the Royal Rumble not being in North America for the first time?
