Below are a couple of top WWE & AEW news stories of the day.
• In 2018, WWE signed a 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia to do 2 premium live events per year in their country.
In 2025, WWE will only do one PLE in Saudi Arabia, and do 3 in 2026 instead, as Royal Rumble 2026 is also scheduled to take place over there.
While addressing this change during the 2024 earnings call, TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer revealed that WWE gets $55 million for one PLE in Saudi Arabia:
“Our guidance for 2025 includes one PLE in Saudi Arabia, compared to two PLEs in 2024. This results in an unfavorable impact to our 2025 plan of approximately $55 million of total company revenue. We expect to host three PLEs in Saudi Arabia in 2026, including Royal Rumble.”
Must See: Christopher Daniels Got Caught Blading On Camera On This Week’s AEW Dynamite (Video)
• In the main event of this week’s NXT, Ricky Saints & Je’Von Evans defeated Wes Lee & Ethan Page.
This was Ricky’s WWE debut match. Fans chanted “Tony Fumbled” during this match:
Fans chanted "Tony Fumbled" during Ricky Saints' WWE debut match on tonight's NXTpic.twitter.com/Azeb9vkwIK
— WrestleFeed (@WrestleFeedApp) February 26, 2025
On ‘The Hump’, Sean Ross Sapp reported the following about the backstage AEW reaction to this chant:
“They don’t give a f**k, man. I don’t know what to tell you guys—they don’t care. Like, they don’t care at all. I haven’t heard one peep about it. I asked two people specifically, and one just sent an eye roll back. They’re just like, ‘Whatever, we got a show tomorrow.’ That’s it.”
