Why A New Arena Was Built For WWE Royal Rumble 2026

The 2026 Royal Rumble PLE will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but instead of the previous venues used in the area such as the Mohammed Abdo Arena, the Kingdom Arena, the King Saud University Stadium, Mrsool Park, and the King Fahd International Stadium, a brand new stadium has been built from scratch in the King Abdullah Financial District. 

In just a month, the new stadium was built from the ground up, with the first show at the venue being held last night for WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown, followed by the Royal Rumble 2026 PLE tonight. The decision to create a new stadium wasn’t just to be flashy or to give the show a bigger feel, with Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter detailing the real reason behind it. 

On the day of the Royal Rumble, all other stadiums in the city were already being used for football matches, therefore none were available. Instead of changing dates, cities, or times for either the Rumble or the football, it was decided that the easier option was to just build another stadium from scratch. During SmackDown last night in this brand new venue, a production botch revealed the potential first entrant in the men’s Royal Rumble match.