WrestleMania heading to Saudi Arabia is a culture-changing moment, says Titus O’Neil.
On September 12, WWE held a press conference in Las Vegas featuring Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, Nick Khan, and Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, alongside a host of past and present WWE Superstars. During the event, it was announced that WrestleMania 43 will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2027.
WWE’s Global Ambassador, Titus O’Neil, recently spoke to TMZ about the announcement, revealing that he feels safer in Saudi Arabia than in most parts of the United States.
“I can say this because I’ve been to Saudi Arabia several times now. I feel safer in Saudi Arabia than I do in most places, or a lot of places, in the United States of America. In the United States, when you have this mindset of, ‘We’re the greatest country in the world,’ and we are a great country, but people don’t move to the United States because we’re the greatest country, they move because we have the greatest amount of opportunity. The biggest difference between places overseas and the United States, are morals and convictions. They actually live by theirs, whether you like them or not. They are going to pray five times a day. They are going to stop during the day and do their thing, whether anyone likes it or doesn’t like it. You don’t hear about mass shootings in Saudi Arabia, China, Japan. If people had a chance to go to Saudi Arabia, their views would change dramatically. I’m not saying they get it all right, but we don’t get it all right, either. For us to be able to go to Saudi Arabia, when I went the first time and people had all these negative things to say and there were a whole lot of scare tactics and scare verbiage — in my hotel room, it’s one in the morning, and I see kids running around on the beach. Kids. I get up the next morning and ask my driver, ‘Are you guys not worried about some of these kids getting sexually assaulted or beaten or brutalized or kidnapped?’ ‘No, because it’s an automatic death sentence.’ Kids are safe over there, while kids are not safe in the United States.”
-Titus O’Neil
On the decision to bring WrestleMania 43 to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, O’Neil highlighted that, while the move makes business sense, it also reflects the cultural shift WWE’s involvement in the region has helped produce.
“My perspective of us going to Saudi in WWE, it’s business, but it’s also changing culture. When we first went over there, women were just getting introduced and being able to drive. Things are changing over there and so many people have this mindset of….in America, if somebody talks about race, ‘That was so long ago.’ It actually wasn’t. It’s 2025 now. It was 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, and even up to the present. We still have systemic issues with racism. I’d rather go as performer where I’m going to be celebrated, not tolerated, and it’s going to be a first-class experience for everybody that chooses to come to the show. WWE is a platform that caters to one audience. That’s the audience of one, no matter what color you are, no matter what religion you practice or don’t practice, no matter where you come from. We have too many people on our roster from various places around the globe to be prejudiced, to be antisemitic or anything of these things. If there was ever a platform for us as a company to take, utilize, and show what unity can look like and good business can look like and other cultures look like and how they embrace what we do, no matter where they are or come from or how they dress, Saudi Arabia is definitely one of those places, in my opinion. If WWE and TKO brass didn’t feel that way, the decision would not have been made. Most of the people complaining about the show being over there would never book a ticket to go over there anyway. Watch the show on TV, it’s going to be a spectacle. Saudi Arabia does nothing small and WWE does nothing small. Get ready for a hell of a show and experience on a global stage that is going to show everyone why this business, and WWE and TKO in particular, do it better than anyone in the world.”
-Titus O’Neil
WWE President Nick Khan also recently weighed in on the decision to bring WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia in 2027, labelling the move a “natural next step” for the company. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on WrestleMania 43 heading to Riyadh in 2027 as soon as we hear more.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
