Mark Shapiro On WWE’s Relationship With Saudi Arabia, Nothing Planned Yet Regarding More Events

Endeavor president Mark Shapiro has weighed in on WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and reports of the company potentially doing more shows there. It was reported today that Saudi Arabia will announce an “enhancement” to its deal with WWE soon, and that the country wants either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania to take place in the country. Shapiro addressed the state of WWE’s relationship with the company following Vince McMahon’s exit on the TKO Q1 earnings call. You can see a couple highlights below, per Fightful:

On the company’s relationship with Saudi Arabia: “Let’s remember, we have a strong and healthy relationship with the Kingdom, through WWE, and doing two annual events a year. I’ll remind folks that those deals were primarily highly tied to Vince McMahon. There was a lot of speculation with Vince being gone, ‘would that impact the relationship in a negative way? Would they be looking to get out of it?’ I would say that Nick Khan, in particular has developed, sustained, cultivated, and nurtured a very strong relationship in a handoff from Vince. They have a lot of trust and faith in each other. We’ve been delivering on those events.”

On possibly doing more shows in the country: “Potentially, we could look to do more events, but nothing is planned beyond those two events at this time. We will be continue to look at festivalizing those WWE events more than we already do.”

WWE King & Queen of the Ring takes place in the country later this month.