Wrestlemania Is Headed To Saudi Arabia, But At What Cost? – Blavity
We are in a social and economic whirlwind in this country that has never been seen before. As we’ve come to know, money talks, and there’s no entity that understands that more than the WWE. It was announced during Fight Week in Las Vegas last week that Wrestlemania is heading to Saudi Arabia in 2027. The move was met with mixed reactions, but mostly negative from fans here in the States. But after being paid a reported $250 million for the WWE’s cornerstone event, who cares, right?
The primrose path begins
Ever since former chairman Vince McMahon resigned a few years ago, the WWE has taken a much more aggressive approach to securing revenue-generating opportunities. This was even more apparent after the TKO acquisition almost two years ago. Now, in the world of business, it’s known that the only goal is to turn a profit. When you’re a publicly traded entity, that tenet is even more exacerbated because you are now tasked with making your shareholders even more money, too. There are actually rules that exist and stipulate that governing bodies in these companies must take advantage of opportunities that will assist in this.
That’s not to say that the WWE was in a moral pickle. I believe that they love this deal, and it benefits them in ways that other deals just haven’t. Unfortunately, that’s where most of the goodwill ends. For the fans in Saudi Arabia, it’s certainly a win. But for the majority of pro-wrestling fans here in the States, it’s different. It’s not so much that Wrestlemania will be outside of North America for the first time ever. Our trepidation here lies with the human rights violations that exist in that kingdom. The WWE’s business there is seen as complicit with those abhorrent practices.
When in…Saudi Arabia
For instance, how the ladies of WWE perform at Wrestlemania will have to be tempered to fall in line with the culture on that side. In 2018, when WWE entered into this deal with Saudi Arabia, they were slated to perform two shows there annually. Their partnership has clearly expanded. But initially, the women wrestlers couldn’t perform there. Once they were able to get the okay, they then allowed the ladies to perform in huge T-shirts. But the characters’ personalities seemed much more scaled back. All of the women were supposed to just look happy to be a part, and that’s it.
Nowadays, women talent are able to assume the personas they play up in the current WWE storyline, which is a plus. But there’s no telling what other aspects of their performance could become stifled with Wrestlemania emanating from Saudi Arabia in 2027. Not to mention, the litany of other humans rights violations that are swept under the rug due to sportswashing.
Oh, nothing to see here!
Sportswashing is a term that was coined to describe how Saudi Arabia is being marketed to tourists. They want in on making their kingdom a place to visit. Through initiatives like Riyadh Season, the kingdom puts on grand sporting and entertainment events to sort of modernize that side of the world for the rest of us. It’s just bad PR for their government to simply be seen as the place where LGBTQ+ people aren’t recognized as people who deserve rights like anyone else.
Inasmuch as our freedom is under attack every day here in the States, there’s even less freedom in Saudi Arabia. It’s even illegal to publicly practice any religion outside of Sunni Islam. The list is long, quite frankly. And I understand why the WWE took this on. But as the time nears toward this event, I imagine it becoming a PR nightmare for them. And you can’t run away from the press forever. I’d really appreciate a journalist challenging reps of the company, how they can publicly make sense of all of this.
It remains to be seen just how successful Wrestlemania 43 will be, obviously. But it would behoove WWE to think a bit harder about these partnerships and how their fanbase will internalize it. No matter how much revenue they generate, it’s the fans’ support that allows for this success. If the public begins to demand more decency from their practices, then they’re in trouble. Their hubris can lead them to stumble. Wrestlemania 43 will be pivotal in that respect. That’ll be a “Road To Wrestlemania” that we’ll never forget.
The post Wrestlemania Is Headed To Saudi Arabia, But At What Cost? appeared first on Blavity.
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