"It's a slap in the face"- Hall of Famer not happy with WWE hosting WrestleMania in Saudi Arabia (Exclusive)

WWE recently announced that WrestleMania 43 will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The decision has drawn the ire of fans and analysts alike, with many panning the Stamford-based promotion's decision to take The Show of Shows outside North America.

The Showcase of The Immortals hasn't been hosted outside of the United States since 2002, when it took place in Toronto, Canada. Hall of Fame journalist Bill Apter shared his opinion on WWE's decision, explaining that he isn't pleased with the move to take WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia.

He expressed his views on a recent episode of The Wrestling Time Machine on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge. He said that while it's clear the Stamford-based promotion wants to bring fans from all parts of the world to The Show of Shows, he would not personally attend the event.

"There are a lot of people, thousands and thousands of people, from all over the world, that look to go to a place like Las Vegas like next year. It's good, I have a whole week's vacation to go to all the conventions and all that. It's kind of a slap in the face to the WWE fans, in my opinion, and I'm kind of being careful about saying that," Apter said.

He continued:

"It's a slap in the face because they are bringing WrestleMania no matter what you say. They're bringing and they want fans from the US and other places to go, but they're bringing that into a hotbed of unrest in the Middle East. Would I go? Absolutely, not. I don't want to be in that part of the world."

WrestleMania 43 will create history on account of being the first-ever WrestleMania to take place outside of North America. Rumors are circulating that the company is preparing to bring back many WWE legends for the Showcase of the Immortals, with The Rock rumored to wrestle his first match since WrestleMania XL.

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About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Edited by Faiz Ahmed