Las Vegas may sound like the obvious emergency landing spot for WrestleMania 43, but that door appears to be shut. With WWE still planning to run the event in Saudi Arabia despite current travel concerns, a new update says Vegas does not have the April dates available and isn’t in position to throw the same kind of money at WWE that it has in the past.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer addressed talk that Las Vegas could serve as a backup location if WWE was forced to move WrestleMania 43 out of Saudi Arabia.
“Regarding rumors of Las Vegas as a back-up plan, sources in Las Vegas who have basically tipped us off on all the Mania decisions as well as issues with the dates that had to be taken care of the past two years well ahead of time, said that the city does not have the dates available in April and is not able to spend the kind of money they have in the past to bring the event in.”
That puts a pretty big dent in the idea that WWE could simply pivot back to Las Vegas if plans in Saudi Arabia suddenly change. Vegas has already become closely tied to WWE’s WrestleMania strategy, but according to this update, the city doesn’t currently have the calendar space or the same financial flexibility to step in.
The timing matters because WrestleMania 43 has already been confirmed for Saudi Arabia, but WWE still hasn’t announced the exact date for the April 2027 event. As previously noted, the company has been in no rush to make that date public.
Meltzer also wrote that WWE’s current plan is still to hold both its November 7 Saudi Arabia event and WrestleMania 43 as scheduled. He noted that contingency plans would still be necessary given the uncertainty surrounding travel conditions, but the company intends to move forward unless the situation becomes too dangerous.
The money involved is massive. Meltzer stated that the November 7 show is worth around $60 million, while WrestleMania is worth well north of $100 million, giving WWE plenty of reason to keep Saudi Arabia as the plan unless circumstances force a change.
For now, though, anyone expecting Las Vegas to be sitting there as WWE’s easy Plan B may want to cross that option off the board. If WrestleMania 43 has to move, WWE may need to look somewhere else entirely.
What do you think WWE should do if Saudi Arabia becomes too difficult to use for WrestleMania 43? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
