WWE breaks new ground with Saudi Arabia’s Royal Rumble event
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) breaks new ground by hosting the Middle East's biggest ever pay-per-view event in Saudi Arabia.
WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble match held last week is part of a 10-year deal the wrestling organization made with Saudi Arabia helping pave the way for foreign entertainment in the kingdom.
“You have to grow from the outside in,” Bruce Prichard, a former WWE executive, told FOX Business on Tuesday. “I think that is something that they are attempting to do.”
WWE has come under increased scrutiny for electing to not feature women in its Saudi Arabia show in a country that imposes draconian laws against minorities and women.
Prichard said the WWE is making an effort to be part of the solution and recently broke history hosting an event in Abu Dhabi where two of the organization’s top female wrestlers competed.
“The entire live crowd was chanting, ‘This is hope,’ in English at the fact that two females were competing for the first time ever in the United Arab Emirates,” he said during an interview on FOX Business' "The Evening Edit."
WWE’s growth strategy has been modeled in part to turn the company into a global entertainment giant. The wrestling organization has held its widely popular events in China, Europe and India.
“They are opening training centers where they can recruit talent from those areas, from those countries, to truly be an international company,” Prichard said.