From The WWE Rumor Mill: 50-man Royal Rumble match set to be broadcast live on the WWE Network?

What's the story?

WWE this week announced plans to present the biggest Royal Rumble match in WWE history in Saudi Arabia on April 27th, but even though it's a live event it seems that the show could be broadcast live on the WWE Network.

In case you didn't know...

The plans for the match that is being dubbed "The Greatest Royal Rumble" have only recently been revealed.

But it seems that John Cena, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, Triple H, The New Day, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Shinsuke Nakamura have all already been named as competitors for the match next month.

WWE have been pushing their product forward over the past few months and that included staging a huge event in Abu Dhabi which included the first-ever women's championship match to be held in the United Arab Emirates.

The heart of the matter

The 50-man Royal Rumble match will take place live from the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah on Friday, April 27.

And whilst many fans have been worried that they won't be able to watch the show there are now reports that state that the show could be streamed live on the WWE Network since it's something that Dave Meltzer mentioned on the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer.(Transcript via Ringsidenews)

“It’s not official. I presume it’s a network special. I suspect it will air live. It will probably be a bad time slot but you can watch it whenever you want, so it’s no big deal. It’s going to be taped for something though."

WWE have presented a number of shows from different country's live on the Network over the past few years including Beast In The East back in 2015.

It will either be TV or network special. I don’t know if it could be or will be a USA Network special but it’s possible but it will probably be a [WWE] Network special.”

What's next?

WWE have their biggest event of the year coming up in a few weeks time as WrestleMania descends on New Orleans, but this battle royale is set to take place almost three weeks afterwards.

Author's take

WWE obviously want to promote live event ticket sales, but it seems that the fact that this is set to be a huge event not just for the company but for the history of the company means that it needs to be streamed on the Network as well. WWE need to ensure that their gaining money from their Network subscriptions and this could be a great way to boost them after WrestleMania season.