Eric Bischoff on Vince McMahon's possible view of WWE holding WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia

Vince McMahon resigned as a board member of WWE's parent company TKO in January 2024 amid serious misconduct allegations. In a recent podcast episode, former WCW executive Eric Bischoff addressed what McMahon might think about WrestleMania 43's location.

On September 12, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H announced that WrestleMania 43 will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027. The annual event has never previously taken place outside of Canada and the United States.

Bischoff said on 83 Weeks that past generations of WWE fans were able to attend shows thanks to McMahon's family-friendly ticket prices. Nowadays, he thinks the new TKO regime is pricing loyal WWE followers out of going to events.

"I sound like a Vince McMahon agent here, but I would have voted with Vince on this one," Bischoff stated. "I think you have to make a decision, in my opinion, to remain family-friendly in the context of making it affordable so parents can bring their kids, and it's something that you can all enjoy together because there's not a lot of that left."

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Fans on social media widely criticized the decision to stage WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia.

Eric Bischoff questions the logic behind WWE WrestleMania 43 location

WWE has already caused controversy this year by changing the WrestleMania 42 venue. The show was originally supposed to be held at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on April 11-12, 2026. However, it will now take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18-19, 2026, for the second year running.

Elaborating on how Vince McMahon would feel about Saudi Arabia hosting WrestleMania 43, Eric Bischoff stressed the importance of wrestling's American roots.

"I can relate to Vince's concern. Professional wrestling truly is an American phenomenon. Yes, it's taken place all over the world, blah blah blah blah, technically speaking, but it really is an American phenomenon. It's uniquely American. And to take it outside of the country, Canada doesn't count. It's just like another state. It's just a big state, but it's another state, and it's easily accessible by people in the United States, for the most part."

Bischoff added that the WrestleMania 43 news will inevitably leave fans "disappointed" and lead to negative publicity.

Please credit 83 Weeks and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.

About the author

Danny Hart is a journalist who has been reporting on pro wrestling (WWE) at Sportskeeda since 2017. He grew up as a massive fan of football/soccer and wrestling, leading him to pursue a career in sports journalism.

Before assuming his current role, Hart worked as a football writer at Goal.com between 2009 and 2016. He prides himself on writing original content that is fact-based and highly accurate. Hart thoroughly proofreads his work before submitting it and relies only on credible sources for information.

Hart’s favorite pro wrestler is The Undertaker. He admires the 2022 WWE Hall of Famer’s ability to reinvent his character and remain relevant across his decades-long career. If given the keys to WWE’s creative department, he would bring back The Phenom for a farewell bout against AJ Styles in a stadium full of fans. Not only that, but he would love to have the multi-time world champion’s greatest rivals seated at ringside for the spectacle.

When not watching and covering sports, Hart enjoys long-distance running, playing video games, and listening to audiobooks and podcasts.

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Edited by Danny Hart