Additional notes added by Dave Meltzer
A 50-entrant Royal Rumble match will be taking place in Saudi Arabia later this year.
WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority announced this morning that the “Greatest Royal Rumble” will take place at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on April 27th. There will be 50 wrestlers in the match, with John Cena, Triple H, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, The New Day, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Shinsuke Nakamura advertised for the show.
The event will be the first as part of a ten-year contract between the Saudi General Sports Authority and WWE that was signed last week with Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque both going to Saudi Arabia to close what was likely a very lucrative deal. WWE’s press release announcing the show noted that ticket and broadcast information will be made available in the coming weeks.
“The ‘Greatest Royal Rumble’ will be a spectacle of historic proportions,” Vince McMahon said in a statement. “Our partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority reflects a long-term commitment to present WWE’s world-class entertainment to a global audience on a grander scale than ever before.”
The 50 participants in the match will be the largest field ever for a Royal Rumble, surpassing the 40 wrestlers who took part in 2011.