WWE did not announce WrestleMania 43 dates at Crown Jewel; Meltzer links delay to AEW competition

WWE did not reveal WrestleMania 43 dates during the Crown Jewel premium live event in Riyadh on November 7, 2026. The November 7 PLE featured Roman Reigns versus Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes versus Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match, but there was no mention of ‘Mania’ dates despite speculation they might be announced there.

Riyadh had previously been named the host city for WrestleMania 43. Reporter Dave Meltzer addressed the missing announcement on the November 8 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio after Bryan Alvarez questioned why the TKO-owned company had not revealed the dates. Meltzer suggested the company might be delaying confirmation to limit AEW President Tony Khan’s ability to organise a competing show during WrestleMania weekend. He compared the approach to the recent Royal Rumble date being withheld, describing the situation as political manoeuvring.

Meltzer said: "It’s the same reason why we didn’t have a Royal Rumble date until a couple days ago. It’s all political jockeying. You want to not confirm it until. Especially now, because it’s like, they don’t have to sell tickets. So it’s like, what’s the point in confirming it months ahead? Normally you would give the date so you could sell tickets and people can make arrangements to go and all that." He framed the delayed announcement partly around the absence of immediate ticket-selling pressure for an overseas event.

Meltzer added: "So it’s just a question of, you know, they don’t want it out and keep people guessing because obviously everyone expects Tony Khan to do a, you know, a competitive show head to head, and they want to give him as little. I mean, they’re going to have to announce it a couple months ahead, but they don’t. Maybe they don’t want to announce it six months ahead. Who knows?" He also noted the Stamford-based promotion may not face the same urgency to sell tickets well in advance for a show in Riyadh because international travel arrangements may not begin immediately after dates are announced.

Discussing specific timing, Meltzer said: "If they announced. Let’s say they announced April 10th and 11th, which is probably when it’s going to be. How many people do you think in the United States, Canada, Mexico, even Europe are going to be Russian tomorrow to set up their plane flights to go to Saudi Arabia April 10th and 11th. The number isn’t going to be large. So there’s no point in announcing it right now." He offered April 10 and 11, 2027 as likely dates while noting the limited immediate demand for long-haul travel to the event.

The article notes broader scheduling context that could influence timing: the TKO-owned promotion has opened its schedule through February 2027, WWE released a 2027 slate showing 11 new event dates across North America including nine new editions of Raw and SmackDown, and several WWE and AEW dates already sit on or near the same days. Specific clashes mentioned include WWE’s Australia Live Tour coinciding with AEW Dynamite/Collision on December 9 and the back-to-back weekend of the 40th annual Royal Rumble at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on February 6 followed by AEW Dynasty at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on February 7.

WWE has not publicly stated that it is delaying a WrestleMania 43 date announcement to hinder AEW planning. Dave Meltzer suggested that could be one reason, and he and other reports have identified April 10 and 11, 2027 as a likely weekend, but there has been no official confirmation of the event dates.