Unfortunate update on WWE's Saudi Arabia plans in 2025 - Reports

There has been an unfortunate update about WWE's plans in Saudi Arabia for this year. It was recently reported that Royal Rumble 2026 would air live from Saudi Arabia next year.

According to a new report from Fightful Select, World Wrestling Entertainment may only be planning to host one event in Saudi Arabia this year. The report noted that the company is looking to hold an event in Jeddah this June. The company has not held an event in the Middle East in June since Super ShowDown 2019.

Over the last two years, the sports juggernaut has hosted premium live events in Saudi Arabia in May and November.

Royal Rumble 2025 will air live on February 1 from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The winner of the Men's and Women's Royal Rumble matches will earn a title shot at WrestleMania 41. Bayley and Cody Rhodes emerged victorious at the premium live event in 2024 and went on to become champions at The Show of Shows last year.

John Cena Sr. makes massive prediction about WWE Royal Rumble 2025

John Cena Sr. recently predicted that his son would be the last man standing in the Men's Royal Rumble match next month.

Cena will retire from in-ring competition at the end of the year and announced that he would be competing in the match during this past Monday's edition of WWE RAW on Netflix. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Bill Apter, Cena Sr. noted that his son wants to entertain the fans and predicted he would win the match.

"I believe he's going to come out the winner. The stuff he puts on his shirts - 'Never give up', 'Never quit', 'Hustle, Loyalty, Respect'...if he says he's going to do it, I know he's going to do his damndest to get it done. If nothing else, he'll do it for the fans, to make sure the fans have what they want. So my money is on John Cena at the Royal Rumble." [From 05:12 to 05:34]

You can check out the interview in the video below:

Paul Heyman confronted Undisputed WWE Champion Rhodes on this past Friday's episode of SmackDown. He warned that Roman Reigns intends to win the Rumble match next month to earn a shot at The American Nightmare's title. It will be interesting to see what the company has planned for the premium live event in a few weeks.